HARARE – Zimbabwe Cricket (ZC) yesterday appointed India’s Lalchand Rajput as the national team’s interim coach to replace the sacked Heath Streak.

Rajput, a former India opener with two Tests to his name, has previously been in-charge of India’s coaching set-up during their World T20 triumph in 2007.

He has also coached Afghanistan, after having coached Mumbai Indians and serving as the director of India’s National Cricket Academy.  

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The 56-year-old will begin work immediately with the upcoming home Twenty20 tri-series against Pakistan and Australia.   

“ZC has named...Rajput as Zimbabwe’s interim head coach. The 56-year-old former India cricketer is a highly qualified, vastly experienced and well-respected coach who was in charge when India won the inaugural ICC World Twenty20 in 2007. We wish you all the best!” ZC said in tweet yesterday.

Rajput’s last international assignment was with Afghanistan — he was their head coach when they gained Test status.

In the previous season, he coached Assam in the Ranji Trophy, and then mentored a team in the T20 Mumbai League.

Rajput will replace Streak, who was sacked in March following Zimbabwe’s failure to qualify for the 2019 ICC Cricket World Cup to be held in England and Wales.

Zimbabwe hosted the qualifying tournament but failed to book a ticket to the global tournament following a surprising defeat to Associate side United Arab Emirates.

In the end, the West Indies and Afghanistan booked their places at the tournament.

After the tournament, Streak, batting coach Lance Klusener, fitness trainer Sean Bell and captain Graeme Cremer were all sacked.

Convener of selectors Tatenda Taibu, Zimbabwe A coach Doug Hondo and Zimbabwe U19 coach Steve Mangongo were also shown the exit door.

Streak, Klusener, Bell and Mangongo have all challenged their dismissals and the matter is now before the courts.

Rajput will also have a crisis to deal with as his first port of call after a deadline given to ZC by all centrally-contracted players to be paid their outstanding match fees, bonuses and salaries lapsed on Wednesday.

The players made it clear that will not begin preparations for the forthcoming tri-series against Pakistan and Australia.

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HARARE – Dynamos coach Biggie Zuze wants his charges to build on their confidence-boosting victory over Bulawayo Chiefs last weekend in his first game after taking over from Lloyd Mutasa, who was sacked following a dreadful start to the season.

The Glamour Boys host FC Platinum at Rufaro Stadium on Sunday knowing victory would end an unwarranted record of five games without a win against the platinum miners in the previous three years.

Zuze, who is now being assisted by DeMbare juniors coach Lloyd Chigowe, started his reign with a narrow 0-1 victory over Bulawayo Chiefs at Barbourfields Stadium courtesy of a Quality Kangadzi goal.

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DeMbare are on eighth place on the log table with 12 points, a massive 17 behind log leaders Ngezi Platinum Stars, who are on 29 points after 11 matches.

“We know FC Platinum is a very good team, very organised and for us, we know we have to manage the game so that we can follow up on last weekend’s win with another good result,” Zuze said.

“The boys are working hard and we hope for the best and a good result.

“In the past two seasons, the results have not gone our way against FC Platinum particularly last season where we lost home and away. I however, think this is a new season and we are prepared for them.

“Everyone is giving his best at training especially after what happened to our technical team.”

Midfielder Raphael Manuvire could be in line for selection in Sunday’s game.

Manuvire has been on the sidelines after pulling a muscle in the build-up to the Harare derby against CAPS United last month.

“I think we have a lot of positives from the injured players. Manuvire is back and also James Marufu has started training but I don’t think we will consider him for this game but all the other guys are ready including Ocean Mushure and we are working hard,” Zuze said.

Zuze also wants to see his players improve on their home record which has not been impressive lately.

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HARARE  - CAPS United coach Lloyd Chitembwe is set to show his ruthless side by dropping a number of under-performing stars for his team’s Castle Lager Premiership match against Highlanders this weekend.

The Green Machine travel to Bulawayo to take on Bosso at Barbourfields Stadium on Sunday still smarting from last weekend’s 1-2 home defeat to log leaders Ngezi Platinum Stars.

That defeat left United in seventh place on the log table with 16 points from 11 matches and now trail Ngezi by a massive 13 points.

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However, a number of Makepekepe senior players did not cover themselves in glory during that defeat to Madamburo and the previous two matches in which they drew 1-1 with Shabanie Mine and lost 0-1 to Chicken Inn.

The biggest casualties are likely to be in defence where Chitembwe is likely to axe centre back Dennis Dauda while captain Stephen Makatuka is set to miss out due to a hamstring injury picked up in the Ngezi match.

Full back Praise Tonha, who also started last weekend, looks set to be another casualty as Chitembwe looks to shake up his defence which has failed to keep a clean sheet in the last four matches.

Goalkeeper Prosper Chigumba is set to return between the sticks for Cris Mverechena after missing the last two matches while serving suspension for the red card he received in the encounter against the Gamecocks.

After being frozen out in the first 11 matches of the season, centre back Goodwin Goriyati is likely to partner Justice Jangano at the heart of the defence against Bosso on Sunday.

Carlton Munzabwa will be given the nod at left back while Valentine Musarurwa starts at right back. Chitembwe is also likely to drop midfielder Denver Mukamba following a recent dip in form. Mukamba last shone when he scored a beautiful goal in the 1-0 win over Dynamos in the Harare derby last month.

Since then, the on-loan midfielder has been off colour which has prompted Chitembwe to look for other options for Sunday’s match.

“It’s natural that after a loss, you can’t be seen smiling or be happy,” Chitembwe said after Makepekepe’s training session yesterday.

“Even the players, everyone, the supporters were disappointed so it’s not only my disappointment that is more important but at the end of the day it’s about us making sure we respond in a certain way that is necessary to be positive going into the game after.

“Even the players, it is also important for them to respond in a way that will be good going into the game against highlanders. So we expect a reaction from everyone.”

The Makepekepe coach admitted that his team is now desperate to start collecting maximum points and hopes they rediscover their winning formula against Bosso on Sunday. 

“All games are big and very, very important; we know what we are supposed to do and we carry a huge responsibility and for us, the responsibility to perform is key,” Chitembwe said.

“When we talk of performance, we are talking of winning games and this is our responsibility and we will try our best towards achieving that.”  

Fixtures Tomorrow: Nichrut v Bulawayo Chiefs (Ascot), Chicken Inn v Harare City (Luveve), Ngezi Platinum Stars v Bulawayo City (Baobab), ZPC Kariba v Yadah (Nyamhunga)

Sunday: Highlanders v CAPS United (Barbourfields), Shabanie Mine v Chapungu (Maglas), Dynamos v FC Platinum (Rufaro), Triangle United v Black Rhinos (Gibbo), Mutare City Rovers v Herentals (Vengere)

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HARARE – Opposition political parties have said pronouncements by Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (Zec) chairperson Priscillah Chigumba that they will only be allowed to observe the printing process of ballot papers were not sufficient enough to allay their rigging fears.

On Wednesday, Chigumba said the electoral body’s commissioners had unanimously agreed that it was unconstitutional for political parties to be part of the ballot papers procurement process.

But the opposition told the Daily News yesterday that observing alone was not enough and was against the spirit of transparency in the process.

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Thabitha Khumalo, spokesperson of the country’s largest opposition political party, the MDC, said their party would not relent from its demands.

“... we want to know where we secure the papers, the transportation of the papers from point A to point B, the security of the place where they are going to be stored.,” she said.

“We want our own people to be part of the security and we also want a trial run, where we have to wait for at least seven hours to demystify the fact that Xs disappears. We also want to know the number of ballot papers that are going to be printed, vis-à-vis the number of registered voters,” she said.

There has been disagreement between the ruling party and the Nelson Chamisa-led opposition MDC on the number of ballot papers that would be printed, where they are to be printed and the name of the organisation printing them.

The opposition is persistent that the identity of the companies concerned should be made public.

The MDC wants the process to be subjected to open tender while the ruling party is adamant that such a move will compromise national security.

This also comes after Justice minister Ziyambi Ziyambi recently rejected proposals by MDC parliamentarians for an open tender for the procurement of the ballot papers, claiming this was against the country’s current procurement provisions.

But according to the Thokozani Khupe–led MDC, their demands are beyond what has just been offered by Zec.

“We are not at all satisfied. We demand the full package, warts and all. We demand to know how the tender to award the printing of ballot papers was awarded. What was the criteria for choosing the company that will print ballot papers? And how much money is this company going to be paid for printing the ballot papers? What are the security features on the ballot papers?” the camp’s vice president, Obert Gutu, said.

Tendai Biti’s People’s Democratic Party (PDP) spokesperson Jacob Mafume, said government was creating problems for itself by failing to come clean on the organisation that is going to print the ballot papers.

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HARARE - President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s “scientific illiteracy” is the main reason why the country’s economy will not improve anytime soon, opposition New Patriotic Front (NPF) leader Tendai Munyanduri has said.

He alleges Ambrose Mutinhiri and his cabal stole the name “New Patriotic Front” from him. Munyanduri rebranded his Progressive and Innovative Movement of Zimbabwe (PIMZ) and wrote to the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (Zec) on January 23, advising them of the name change to New Patriotic Front.

Meanwhile, Munyanduri, who is a presidential candidate in this year’s general elections, told the Daily News yesterday that Mnangagwa was out of his depth.

“It is not just about carrying a begging bowl all over the world, as there is nothing for nothing in the international world when someone is not scientifically competent in critical areas such as health, engineering, be it chemical, electrical or otherwise,” Munyanduri said.

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“What he needs to do is to embrace science and technology as a vehicle for economic development right here in his country.

“It needs commitment, dedication, individual capability and scientific literacy together with sufficient academic stamina”.

Munyanduri said it was foolhardy for Mnangagwa to promise Zimbabweans what he hopes to deliver if he is voted into office when he was already the country’s president.

“It does not make sense for Mnangagwa to campaign by making promises because he has been in government,” he said.

An electrical engineer by profession, Munyanduri suggested that Zimbabweans should instead vote for him as president.

“People perish because of lack of knowledge, now we have people dying of malnutrition because people with little knowledge such as Mnangagwa will prioritise the Forestry Commission for example to make sure forests are improved, yet what we need are fruit forests so that people have access to fruits and nutrition.

“Mnangagwa is a lawyer so he cannot talk about command housing. What does he know about engineering? We cannot take him seriously so that is why we as NPF are saying Zimbabweans need to seriously consider a scientist for a president this coming election.”

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HARARE – Vice President Constantino Chiwenga’s mother-in-law, Helga Mubaiwa, has dragged the ruling Zanu PF party to the High Court challenging the outcome of the recently-conducted primary elections.

Mubaiwa lost the poll to rival, Munyaradzi Kashambe, who was declared the winner to represent Zanu PF as its parliamentary candidate for the Seke constituency, in the forthcoming elections.

In an urgent chamber application filed on Tuesday, Mubaiwa is seeking an order barring the party’s political commissar Engelbert Rugeje and the ruling party from supporting Kashambe until she exhausts all the available remedies in her quest to overturn the outcome of the primary elections.

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According to the application, Mubaiwa is the applicant, while Kashambe, Rugeje and Zanu PF are cited as respondents.

“I am a member of the third respondent (Zanu PF), which is a political party registered in Zimbabwe of which the second respondent (Rugeje) is its political commissar who was responsible for administering the said third respondent’s primary elections to select candidates to represent it in the forthcoming harmonised elections.

“I aver that in the said primary elections, I was certified by the second and third respondents amongst many other candidates (the first respondent, Kashambe, included), to participate therein in the hope of representing the Seke rural parliamentary constituency on behalf of Zanu PF,” Mubaiwa said.

She further told the court that the primary elections were meant to be conducted in terms of Zanu PF’s constitution.

Following the outcome of the polls, in which she lost to Kashambe, Mubaiwa noted an appeal with the party.

“For many reasons…, I was aggrieved by the outcome of the said primary election. And after the result was announced on the night of the 9th of May, 2018, I immediately noted an appeal to the relevant authority. It remains pending.

“I have no doubt that my said appeal has positive prospects. In fact, there is a grand chance that a rerun may be ordered as a consequence of my said appeal,” she said.

She, however, said notwithstanding her appeal, Rugeje has gone ahead to present Kashambe as the party’s candidate in the forthcoming elections.

“In fact, the latter respondent (Kashambe) has started enjoying the full benefits of the third respondent’s candidacy as if his winning declaration is not under challenge. He has now drawn the party regalia which he is using to start his campaign,” she said, adding that she stands to suffer irreparable damage if the issue is not dealt with.

She said in the event that she wins the rerun, it would be a mammoth task to undo Kashambe’s campaign tactics and could create confusion with the electorate, a factor which she said has necessitated the current court application.

“I will further aver that whilst I suffer the potential of irreparable harm, the same cannot be said of the respondent even if he is temporarily debarred from presently acting as the third respondent’s candidate. In fact, second and third respondents will suffer no impediment at all in ensuring an efficacious resolution of my appeal so that my challenge goes out of everyone’s way in order to then allow the uncontested winner to start campaigning.

“I observe that there is no other way for me to seek reprieve herein otherwise, than through an urgent chamber application. Firstly, because the first respondent has already started hitting the ground campaigning and secondly, because there is no chance that a normal court application could be concluded before the harmonised elections are held. And because my concerns are merely an internal complaint, once the main elections are held and concluded, I will be rendered remediless. I would obviously have been passed by the opportunity to represent the third respondent, a party of my choice,” she said.

In her grounds of appeal, which are part of the court application, Mubaiwa said there was no updated voters’ roll to facilitate fair and transparent conducting of the primary elections.

“It will be submitted in the above regard that the cell registers that were used in the disputed election were not up to date as required by the governing regulations,” she said, adding that most eligible voters were disenfranchised.

She also attached a report from officer commanding Mashonaland East province Abigail Moyo, who said the ballot papers were not enough in the constituency and that some names were not appearing in the register.

“A report was made to (Mr) Kuchekwa to the effect that many voters had not been able to cast their votes and Kuchekwa instructed that voting would continue on 30 April, 2018 but ballot papers had run out and Kuchekwa improvised some which he gave us.

“Kuchekwa then gave the police 160 litres for the police bus to distribute polling officers and ballot papers. He also gave 60 litres to the constituency for use in his vehicle,” Moyo said in the report.

Mubaiwa is now seeking an order barring Kashambe from campaigning in the Seke constituency, pending the disposition of her appeal and an order barring Rugeje and Zanu PF from treating her rival as the ultimate winner of the primary elections.

The respondents have not yet responded to the application.

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HARARE – The death of businessman Kudakwashe Tagwirei’s father dealt a major blow on government business this week as virtually all ministers abandoned their workstations to attend his burial — in a development that also paralysed Parliament’s business.

There was a virtual government business shut-down in Parliament on Wednesday as President Emmerson Mnangagwa, his deputy Constantino Chiwenga and all but three of his ministers made a beeline to Shurugwi to attend the burial of Phineas Tagwirei, father to Kudakwashe, an influential businessman who has made millions in the fuel supply and energy industries through his company, Sakunda Holdings.

A reclusive entrepreneur, Tagwirei is credited for mobilising finance for government’s Command Agriculture, which the opposition alleges to be an illegal parallel programme of the State, specifically designed to pursue a narrow electoral agenda, specifically securing a Zanu PF victory at the 2018 harmonised elections.

As one of former president Robert Mugabe’s deputies before they fell out towards the end of last year, Mnangagwa became the face of Command Agriculture, which also became another source of friction between him and the former despot’s wife, Grace, who sensationally claimed to have originated the idea.

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Since Mnangagwa’s inauguration as the country’s president following his military-aided rise in November last year, Tagwirei’s influence has grown tremendously, not only in the ruling Zanu PF party but also in government.

Such is Tagwirei’s influence in the country’s top echelons of power that even Parliament had to suspend its traditional Question and Answer time on Wednesday where ministers respond to impromptu questions from legislators.

Only four ministers, Supa Mandiwanzira (ICT and Cyber Security), Patrick Chinamasa (Finance and Economic Planning), Joram Gumbo (Transport and Infrastructure Development) and Ziyambi Ziyambi (Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs) were available.

Critics of the new administration are, however, alarmed by Tagwirei’s growing influence and have warned that the country risked another version of state capture similar to what has become known as the Guptagate scandal in South Africa.

Respected University of Zimbabwe political science lecturer, Eldred Masunungure, told the Daily News that unlike in South Africa where the state capture was at the level of deposed South African president Jacob Zuma who caved to pressure to quit over his ties with the Gupta family, in Zimbabwe both the party and the State risk being captured.

“Mnangagwa’s is a case of party, state capture and it is worth investigating the extent to which the Sakunda tentacles have spread both in government and in Zanu PF given the State-party conflation in the country’s political economy,” Masunugure said.

“The attendance by ministers is also to make sure that they are seen to be following the president lest they will be viewed as disloyal and be dumped when the time to select ministers comes, this being an election year.”

The absence of ministers from their work stations comes even after Mnangagwa on his inauguration pledged to effect a radical departure from his predecessor’s way of doing things in which Cabinet ministers were also made to abandon duty to attend Grace’s rallies as she inexorably climbed the political ladder.

Contacted for comment, Zanu PF secretary for administration Obert Mpofu, referred inquiries to party spokesperson, Simon Khaya Moyo.

Khaya Moyo, who is also the acting government spokesperson, could not give a comprehensive response, saying he was attending a series of meetings.

“Who is saying the party and government is captured? In any case, I am not the government spokesperson so why don’t you give him the chance to do his work?” he said.

In the National Assembly on Wednesday, MDC Member of Parliament for Glen Norah, Webster Maondera questioned how important Tagwirei was to the country that the whole government bureaucracy had to attend not even his funeral, but his father’s.

“We would want to know who this Sekuru Tagwirei is because it is unprecedented that the whole government can be brought to a standstill because of an individual’s death,” Maondera fumed in the National Assembly.

“From what we know, Tagwirei is the father of a local business man and we feel that there is no justification that as Parliament we should be affected by that,” he added.

This was after National Assembly Speaker Jacob Mudenda had announced that several ministers had sought leave of the House to be absent.

Mudenda was forced to summon the Zanu PF chief whip, Lovemore Matuke, to his seat.

Mudenda then told the House: “I instructed the chief whip to compile the names of those that are not here and have given an apology.

“The insinuation you make that they should not have attended is not proper because some people might have a string of extended family relations but I am, however, not justifying their absence,” Mudenda said.

Political analyst Maxwell Saungweme said so powerful was the “lure of money that even Parliament business was set aside at a critical juncture where the country will stage elections in two months because lawmakers and Cabinet ministers had gone to attend a private function”.

Constitutional law expert Alex Magaisa said the question that must be asked is who is Kuda Tagwirei?

“Is he the real owner or is he a front for a more powerful cabal?” he asked rhetorically.

“I think a starting point would be to understand who is in charge of the fuel distribution system in Zimbabwe. Here you will also find a cartel that involves international conglomerates like Trafigura whose profiles aren’t uncontroversial. To use a famous metaphor, you are looking at a tortoise on a fence post but the real question is who put it there?”

International human rights lawyer and analyst Dewa Mavhinga said for Tagwirei or any other businessperson to support government programmes is not a problem for as long as government authorities are able to retain their independence and to discharge their constitutional duties without undue influence, fear or favour.

“State capture occurs when private individuals are able to use their influence to control and direct government functions and therefore, the question is: Has Kuda Tagwirei used his proximity to government ministers and to the president to unduly influence government business?

“The Zimbabwe government must guard against such close relationships with private individuals because that could lead to corruption as the well-connected use their connection for private and personal gain,” he said.

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HARARE - Zanu PF is dangling ambassadorial postings, directorships in parastatal boards and other consolations to aspiring Members of Parliament who lost in its hotly-disputed primary elections to avert electoral sabotage similar to the one witnessed in 2008, the Daily News heard yesterday.

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HARARE - Farmers on resettled land burnt 700 000 hectares of land out of a total 1 268 534 hectares that was consumed by veld fires in the year ended 2017.

The 1 268 534 hectares that went up in smoke, destroying valuable deciduous trees, wildlife and property represents a 300 percent increase of total land consumed by fire in the early stages of the land reform programme.

In 2001, a total 400 000 hectares was burnt by veld fire, according to the 2017 veld fire statistics released by the Environmental Management Agency (Ema) on Thursday.

In 2016 a total of 1 197 335 hectares of land were consumed by veld fires from various causes such as land clearing, arson, poaching, illegal mining, burning waster, unattended fires, smoking out snakes and electric faults.

The statutory body responsible for ensuring protection of the environment — said veld fires have emerged to be one of the greatest environmental challenges in Zimbabwe.

“Over the years, an average of a million hectares is burnt each year, resulting in loss of pasture, forestry resources, plantations, livestock, property and sadly human lives,” Ema publicity manager Steady Kangata said.

Between 2010 and 2015, 72 lives were lost and property worth millions of dollars was destroyed, according to Ema statistics.

In 2017, agricultural equipment, household property, plantations, livestock and transport systems worth $314 509 were burnt by fires, up from $241 569 value of property burnt in 2016.

Ema is currently encouraging the undertaking of projects such as beekeeping, the rearing of quail birds, hay bailing, thatch grass combing and fireguard construction for communities to better understand the importance of maintaining the ecosystem.

The statutory body has various campaigns in which it urges traditional leaders to use their positions to raise awareness on the dangers of veld fires and the need to prevent them.

A resettled farmer, in Goromonzi, Owen Nyamutevera said farmers were not entirely to blame for the spike in veld fires.

“We are doing all we can to minimise risks associated with veld fires by establishing and maintaining fireguards. But due to high poverty levels a lot of villagers have taken to lighting fires to catch mice making it difficult to contain wild fires,” he said.

The fight to prevent veld fires has over the years been hampered by very few custodial sentences given out despite the high deaths rate caused by the destructive scourge which continues to occur with significant frequency and in intensity across the country’s 10 provinces.

There has, however, been some unorthodox support from government which recently said it will repossess land from resettled farmers who cut down trees to cure tobacco and who ignite veld fires.

Minister of Land, Agriculture and Rural Settlement Perrance Shiri issued the chilling warning recently, saying while his ministry notices improvements in production in resettlement areas, there was need to improve sustainable land utilisation and production.

“I believe that as Zimbabweans we all share a common objective to see order and increased production on farms,” Shiri said.

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HARARE - Since the President Emmerson Mnangagwa-led new dispensation took charge last November, long-suffering Zimbabweans feel the country’s economy has remained in the doldrums.

The cash crisis, which started during deposed president Robert Mugabe’s rule, has worsened, the illegal foreign currency market is flourishing, while Zimstats recently said Zimbabwe’s year-on-year inflation edged up to 2,71 percent in April, up from 2,68 percent in March 2018. And the struggling masses’ hopes have been dampened by the recent chaotic ruling Zanu PF’s primaries, which, to them, is a bad omen for the looming 2018 general elections.

Daily News’ Managing Editor, Eric Chiriga, sat down deputy Finance minister Terrence Mukupe to discuss the issues. Below are excerpts of the interview.

Q: Since the new political dispensation last November, how has Zimbabwe’s economy fared? To the ordinary Zimbabwean, life has gotten even tougher, with prices of basic goods going up and inflation increasing by above two percent last month?

A: The economy has actually improved. What you have to realise is that the focus of the Mnangagwa presidency in these past few months has been around strengthening the institutions . . . structures of the institutions.

It’s about making sure that the environment becomes conducive. So you will find that, for instance the announcements in terms of the $11 billion worth of deals, you are not going to reap the benefits of those deals now. The benefits will be felt probably two to three years from now when they start contributing to the fiscus. A quick fix, quick solution is not going to happen. It’s going to be a process.

Q: But to the ordinary Zimbabwean out there, the quick fix starts with addressing basics like the cash shortage. They argue that the new leadership was supposed to immediately address the long-standing cash crisis. But up until today, even after the new dispensation’s much-hyped 100-day plan, there is still no money in the banks.

A: It goes to the source of the problem. The source of the problem is that we don’t have enough foreign currency. And the foreign currency issue is going to be fixed by two things; first we have to have free and fair and credible elections so that we stop being labelled a pariah State and we start having foreign currency coming in through credit lines. That can only happen after the elections. The second one is where the interventions that we are making . . . you have seen Afrexim Bank is giving us a $1,5 billion credit facility, then we have the tobacco season which has just kicked in . . . there is money which is coming from that.

There is also money from our gold. We have been able to unlock some funds out of that. This week alone I think we have released a record amount up to $500 million, which we have pumped into the market. Every importer that had applied for funds from the Reserve Bank (of Zimbabwe) (RBZ) has been given up to three or four times what they asked for.

But the issue is that with such things, you don’t feel the effects straight away. The money we have pumped into the market right now you might feel it three, four, five weeks from now. Then, you will see that things are actually improving in the banks.

Q: But as government, do you have the capacity to keep pumping in such amounts of money so that the market is saturated and there is no cash hoarding? The problem is once money is withdrawn from the formal system, it is never returned.

And the $400 million recently announced by RBZ governor John Mangudya that he said is going to be injected into circulation and help ease the cash shortages is said to be insufficient by experts. They say Zimbabwe needs no less than $900 million in circulation, at any given time, to avoid cash shortages.

A: The issue is not about the amount of money that’s in circulation. Our issue is that we don’t have foreign currency. It’s very easy for us to increase the amount of money that’s in circulation.

Right now we have about $350 million dollars in bonds (bond notes – a unique currency introduced by the RBZ in 2016 to ease cash shortages), it is very easy for us to increase that amount to $900 million, but guess what, it will have inflationary pressures, and what will also happen is that that money is all going to be eroded again by the foreign currency traders. So, it won’t fix the problem.

To fix the problem we have to fix the foreign currency situation. We need to make sure that companies’, which are the ones that fuel the parallel market, needs are attended to. We need to make sure that the money that they need for raw materials is available. And the only way around that is we have to create lines of credit.

That’s why the (RBZ) governor announced that we are getting $1,5 billion from Afrexim Bank in letters of credit, which are good in that they are not physical cash.
They force companies to trade, they force the companies to go out there and get machinery. It’s not hard cash. It’s another way of curbing the parallel market.

Q: Mnangagwa has said since the new dispensation, Zimbabwe has received investment commitments of up to $11 billion. But how much has actually been injected into the country? There is a difference between commitments and actual investments. In the past, during Mugabe’s time, Zimbabweans were told about many investment deals, including the mega Chinese deals, which never materialised.

A: What you have to take into consideration is that they are really mega deals and in all those transactions, the moment you announce them and when you actualise them, it takes a lot. And remember, when you say its $11 billion dollars, it does not mean you are getting $11 billion dollars cash.

For the most part, it’s an issue of whether you are getting equipment, infrastructural development. The physical cash that comes is up to about 20 percent. That’s what will end up circulating. For example the announcement of the construction of the new Parliament building in January, funds are only being released now . . . four, five months later. There is a gestation period. So, for that $11 billion, give it four to six months, then you start seeing things happening on the ground.

Q: Understood. But there is this concern that investors are merely committing because they remain jittery and fearful. The new dispensation has not yet won their lost trust and confidence, and the investors await the 2018 election outcome.

A: What was happening with the Chinese is they would announce the deals, but the deals would not get funded. The deals were not funded because we were in arrears. We were owing money. We defaulted on our guarantees.

I think you have noticed that before the president went to China, (Finance) minister (Patrick) Chinamasa went to the Chinese delegation with the governor and they negotiated repackaging the arrears that we had so that we could get credit lines again. And the repackaged arrears were announced when the president went to China . . . and they are going to start disbursements again.

It is almost the same problem that we had with India as well. India had announced several deals but we were in arrears again. And I am sure you have noticed that CDC in England has announced that they are going to pump $100 million dollars into Zimbabwe.

So, the problem that we had was around our arrears. Now we have managed to go around the issue of arrears. Right now, we are engaging everyone we owed money. We are restructuring the debt. There are entities in Europe that we never used to talk to, but we have decided to reengage.

Q: There is an argument that the new dispensation must scrap the bond notes and go the US dollar, multi-currency basket way, like we did during the Government of National Unity period, and that will eliminate the foreign currency parallel market and speculation.

In any case, the bond notes have significantly lost value against the greenback — they are no longer at par with the US dollar as the monetary authorities purport. Isn’t it ideal to scrap the bond notes?

A: When we did not have the bond notes and there was the multi-currency basket, there was still a parallel market between your RTGS balances and your US dollar on the street. There was also a parallel market between your RTGS dollars and offshore money. When the bond note came in there was a parallel market for RTGS and to US dollars. What you have to realise is this, what was the purpose of having the bond note? Has it served its purpose?

I would want to believe that the purpose it was set out for it has served it. But the problem is that if we are to grow as a country, we actually have to move away from the issue of bond notes, the issue of the multi-currency basket.

We must have our own currency. In essence, that bond note can be converted into our own currency. And we let it float. And the other thing that has to happen is where the central bank is basically fixing the bond note to the US dollar . . . that will have to go away. It should let the bond note or pseudo-Zimbabwean currency find its place . . . let the market determine. That’s what’s supposed to happen.

Q: That sounds like a long journey. And while we travel it, ordinary Zimbabweans will continue to suffer due to the parallel market that fuels speculation and drives basic goods prices up. I am sure you agree the bond note is no longer at par with the US dollar.

A: There is no need for it to be a long journey. Officially it is (bond note at par with US dollar), but when you look at the parallel market, it is not.

What should happen is this. We need to have a situation where . . . let’s go to elections, let’s have a normal economy, and a normal economy is sanctions go away.
Sanctions go away and we are able to get lines of credit . . . meaningful lines of credit support. Then we can scrap the bond note.

Then you can have a situation you can introduce your own currency. I will be shocked if we take two years without our own currency. Zimbabweans are ready for their own currency. People are yearning for it . . . they want their currency to come back.

Q: You recently won the Zanu PF primaries in Harare East Constituency. But there have been allegations that you rigged the election. And to Zimbabweans, that allegation, among many others in the ruling party, dampened Zimbabweans’ hope for a free and fair 2018 election. What do you say about that?

A: I saw the piece that said that I rigged. What’s actually interesting is that if you were to go and talk to police that were in charge of elections in Greendale they will actually tell you that when I came to Greendale they were people who were bent on stopping elections there, and I had to come and make sure that people voted.

And what’s interesting is that we had over 800 people who had turned up to vote in Greendale and because of the skirmishes that ended up happening there were less than 200 people voting and I had over 99 percent of the vote. So then you heard stories that I took the ballot and ran away with the ballot.

How do I run away with a ballot in an area that is my stronghold? If I was to run away with a ballot I will do it in an area where I know I am weak. And as you saw with the results of the election, I think there were two polling stations out of the eight stations out of my constituency where I didn’t win.

And for those two polling stations, you will notice I did not even spend my time there. If I was bent on doing anything, I would have gone and made noise at those two polling stations which I knew the results were not going to be favourable. Everywhere else, I had over 70 percent of the vote.

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MUTARE - President Emmerson Mnangagwa yesterday told thousands of Zanu PF supporters here that elections would be held in July.

The revelation comes amid calls by Zanu PF’s rival and civic organisations for the president to announce the election roadmap that spells out the actual poll dates.

Mnangagwa pleaded with party supporters who thronged Sakubva Stadium for his rally to demonstrate political maturity by shunning violence.

“In elections, which will come in July, we need peace . . . We don’t insult other people, no violence, I plead with you, and it is more important and more powerful to be peaceful. It means we have come of age, it means we are now mature as a party,” he said.

He urged his supporters to resist provocation: “We should not be distracted by small politicians who go around preaching hatred . . . we must allow people to differ.”
Mnangagwa also took a swipe at nurses for their recent industrial action.

“You see, what happened with nurses, some people died in the process . . . that was not good, especially because we had agreed to discuss their grievances, but unfortunately they decided not to treat patients while the discussions were underway. We did not like that.

“If there is a nurse who does not have a job then go and get jobs, if you don’t get your job then come to my ministers,” said the president.

Addressing the same rally, Vice President Constantino Chiwenga challenged Zanu PF to unite ahead of the watershed election.

“If we want to do well in the coming elections we have to unite . . . Yes, we have been fighting among ourselves but there is no home where there are no fights or mudslinging but that phase is over,” Chiwenga said.

He said the president’s credentials as a soldier and liberator were beyond reproach, hence Mnangagwa was the best person to lead the country.

Meanwhile, Mnangagwa officially renamed 3 Infantry Brigade to Herbert Wiltshire Hamandishe Chitepo Barracks at a ceremony held at the barracks yesterday.

He told top military officials, government ministers and the Chitepo family that the renaming was beyond honouring and recognising the country’s heroes as it was meant to implant their memories into living history.

“Today’s ceremony is a continuation of the government’s decision to honour and recognise our departed heroes and heroines of the liberation struggle, beyond having them lie at the national shrines.

“It is encouraging to note that the Zimbabwe Defence Forces has taken the lead in imprinting the memories of our departed heroes into our living history, through the renaming of its various military cantonments after the country’s leading icons and liberators,” Mnangagwa said.

This was the third such ceremony after the renaming of KG VI Barracks to Josiah Magamba Tongogara Barracks with the Zimbabwe National Defence University renamed Rodgers Alfred Nikita Mangena Barracks.

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HARARE - Government has suspended the licensing and growing of marijuana — popularly known as mbanje.

Last month, President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s administration gazetted licence fees for those interested in growing cannabis (mbanje) for research and medicinal purposes.

This was seen as part of strategies to shore up revenue flows to the depressed fiscus.

The development, which had divided opinion in the hugely polarised southern African nation, had made Zimbabwe the second country in Africa to legalise cultivation of the plant after the tiny kingdom of Lesotho announced the continent’s first licence to grow cannabis legally last year.

Until now, it had been illegal to grow, possess or use cannabis in Zimbabwe, with offenders facing up to 12 years in jail.

But in an interview with the Daily News on Sunday last Thursday, deputy Finance minister Terrence Mukupe said the licensing of the dangerous high-street value drug had been put on ice to enable government to plug loopholes that might arise in future.

Mukupe revealed there has been an overwhelming response to the licences, with over 350 applications being made to the Medicines Control Authority of Zimbabwe (MCAZ), which is responsible for protecting public and animal health by ensuring that accessible medicines and allied substances and medical devices are safe, effective and of good quality through enforcement or adherence to standards by manufacturers and distributors.

“All the applications had been submitted to MCAZ, but what has since happened is that MCAZ has put everything on hold,” he said, adding “ . . . the response was quite overwhelming”.

“MCAZ has put on hold licensing until they are pretty clear in terms of all the modalities like; how do we actually implement?” Mukupe said.

He said government needed to conduct a “proper feasibility study” first.

“When I was talking to the deputy minister of Agriculture, he told me that they had over 350 applications. The expectations of most of the applicants was that they will be allowed to grow mbanje on their farms, and then there is so much difference in terms of what people are asking for . . . we had a Dutch investor whose proposal was saying that all he needed was 60 hectares and out of 60 hectares he was talking of making as much as $100 million to $200 million annually, and then we have another investor who was saying that he needs 10 000 hectares and out of 10 000 hectares he was talking of making about $100 million to $200 million as well. There is too much of a difference.”

“What has to be done on our side as government is probably to have a proper feasibility study and have experts telling us what’s actually the truth . . . when you go over the 350 applications the difference in numbers and what they are talking about; it’s crazy,” Mukupe said.

However, the deputy Finance minister said “there is definitely money to be made from mbanje farming”.

“If anything, it could end up being a billion-dollar crop for us within probably a four, five-year period, easily. But the president is clear that if we are going to carry this out, it has to be in a highly-controlled environment,” he said, further stating, “and probably we have to carry out the farming of marijuana on State-owned farms for easier regulation and also away from people. Places like Gwebi College where there is no neighbourhood and they have got the land...areas like Kushinga Pikhelela where there is land and it’s in the middle of nowhere . . . your prison farms like Mazowe Prison Farm . . . those sort of areas that’s where it will be ideal to grow something like that”.

The five-year renewable licences will allow growers to possess, transport and sell fresh and dried cannabis as well as cannabis oil.

Applications should include plans of the growing site, quantity to be produced and sold and the production period.

A licence can be refused when information has been received from a “peace officer, a competent authority or the United Nations that an applicant was involved in the diversion of a controlled substance or precursor to an illicit market or use”, the regulations said.

“The minister may not oblige if the issuance, renewal or amendment of the licence is likely to create a risk to public health, safety or security.”

According to the Government Gazette issued by Health and Child Care minister David Parirenyatwa, mbanje growers would be required to pay an annual return fee of $15 000, while an application to renew a producer’s licence will cost $20 000 and a licence to conduct research on cannabis had been pegged at $5 000.

An application for renewal of a licence to conduct research on cannabis will cost $2 500, application for variation or amendment of a licence $2 500, application for import/export licence $5 000 and inspection licence $2 500.

“An application for the issue of a licence in terms of section 27 of the Act shall be made to the minister, in duplicate and shall be accompanied by the appropriate fee and three copies of a plan of the site proposed to be licensed which shall comply with the requirement specified in these regulations,” the gazette said.

“In case of an individual, proof of citizenship or proof of being ordinarily resident in Zimbabwe or proof of an exemption by the minister (will be required).

“In the case of a company, proof of citizenship or proof of being ordinarily resident in Zimbabwe of the majority of directors or proof of an exemption by the minister and proof of incorporation in Zimbabwe of the company; and a declaration, signed and dated by the proposed authorised person in charge, stating that the authorised person in charge, the proposed responsible person in charge and, if applicable, the proposed alternate responsible person in charge, are familiar with the provisions of the Act (will be required),” it said.

Zimbabwe has been debating legalisation of medicinal cannabis production as the government seeks new revenue streams for its agricultural economy.

Last year, Obert Mpofu, the then Investment Promotion minister, said a Canadian firm had applied to the government for a permit to produce the drug in planned special economic zones designed to lure foreign investors.

Zimbabwe is already one of southern Africa’s biggest tobacco producers, exporting much of its crop to China.

Africa is second only to the Americas in terms of production and consumption of marijuana, according to the United Nations’ 2017 World Drug Report.

Marijuana’s (scientific name is Cannabis sativa) leaves, seeds, stems and/or roots are consumed by marijuana users for the purpose of feeling intoxicated.

THC, or tetrahydrocannibinol, is one of the hundreds of compounds within marijuana that has major intoxicating effects.

Marijuana that is consumed for medical purposes, like for patients with nausea or poor appetite associated with Aids or cancer treatment, is legal in a few states of the United States.

Possession of marijuana, regardless of its purpose, is illegal in most jurisdictions.

Marijuana is the most commonly abused illegal substance worldwide.

While the number of people who use marijuana at any one time does not seem to have recently increased, the number of people who have a marijuana-related disorder has risen significantly. This is more or less true depending on age and ethnic group.

Medical marijuana, also called marinol (Dronabinol), is a synthetic form of marijuana.

There are many ways of referring to marijuana itself, as well as for how it is smoked.

The history of marijuana goes back for thousands of years. It was only made illegal in many countries during the 20th century.

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HARARE - Thirteen pedestrians plunged to their deaths by jumping in front of moving trains in the first five months of the year, the Daily News can exclusively report.

HARARE - The squabbling in the ruling Zanu PF party and the opposition MDC, is likely going to create a serious crisis that will result in many aspiring candidates contesting as independents, analysts have said.

There are currently serious fights in the ruling party and MDC as disgruntled candidates are planning to contest as independent candidates.

A number of Zanu PF MPs and Cabinet ministers lost in the ruling party’s primaries, hence failing to proceed to the eagerly-awaited general elections due either in July or August.

A variety of malpractices unravelled during the Zanu PF emotive polls, among them inordinate delays in supplying voting material to polling centres, vote rigging and violence, which forced the party to sanction re-runs in 14 constituencies.

On the other hand, long-serving Harare West MDC MP, Jessie Majome, this week announced that she will contest the impending national elections as an independent candidate after withdrawing from the MDC primary elections.

Political analysts canvassed by the Daily News on Sunday said both the opposition and the ruling party are going to face tough opponents in the parliamentary elections as most of their losing candidates will stand as independent candidates.

“The parliamentary contest is going to be littered by a hotchpotch of independent and other opposition candidates then Zanu PF and MDC candidates. It’s not going to be easy for either MDC Alliance or Zanu PF to claim easy victories,” political analyst Maxwell Saungweme said.

“With (former opposition leader Morgan) Tsvangirai and (former president Robert) Mugabe gone so is voting for parties. People will now vote for individuals at MP level. So we are likely to have a Zanu PF president after polls and a parliament with Zanu PF, MDC, other opposition and independent MPs.”

Saungweme added that the two major parties in Zimbabwe failed to follow the principal of free and fair elections.

“The dust around primaries in both parties is due to dearth of internal democracy in these institutions. Primary elections procedures and processes are left to be determined by the president or other leaders instead of the constitution of the party.

“Both MDC and Zanu PF are not democratic but dictatorial entities with power vested in party presidents who in both cases are de facto, more supreme than the Constitution or are the Constitution themselves.

“This dictatorship and arbitrariness in both parties is what breeds factionalism and birthed many political parties.

“It is also what’s causing chaos in both camps at primaries. And when main parties lack internal democracy the outcome is multiple splinter opposition parties and independent candidates,” Saungweme said.

Another political analyst Rashweat Mukundu said the primary fiasco in the MDC and Zanu PF has exposed the leadership of the two parties.

“I think political parties are failing to be transparent and strategic on their candidates’ selection. Contestations remain on lack of democratic processes many of which appear to be crafted on the go.

“The second issue is will primaries necessarily produce the best candidate or the most popular person for whatever reasons. Parties therefore need a combination of transparent and democratic processes as well as strategic leadership development. Parties must avoid use of primaries for patronage and building political nests for friends, relatives, boyfriends and girlfriends.

“The current Parliament with its huge deficit on leadership demonstrates that it is far more about primaries but also about quality leadership hence the need for criteria for qualification into primaries.

“The primary fiasco in the mdc and Zanu PF has exposed the leadership and spawned violence which may spill over into the real election contest. Our parties are now vehicles for primitive accumulation and are not promoting democracy which could translate into national democratic culture.”

However, writing on his blog, the Big Saturday Read, political analyst Alex Magaisa said President Emmerson Mnangagwa can promise to carry allies who lost in the primaries in exchange for their continued loyalty and support in his presidential bid.

“Mnangagwa could turn the defeat of his allies into an opportunity for himself. There is no shortage of opportunities in the system of patronage that Mugabe built and Mnangagwa inherited. In any event, the Constitution allows him to appoint up to five ministers from outside Parliament.

“He can promise to carry allies who lost in the primaries in exchange for their continued loyalty and support in his presidential bid. In that case, such people will know that their political fortunes stand or fall with Mnangagwa’s fate.

“They will have every incentive to give everything to ensure that he wins. For Mnangagwa, it is the presidential election that matters and he is better off with close allies putting their undivided attention to his cause.

“They won’t have parliamentary seats to distract their attention and they will fight with and for him to the bitter end. And because their political fortunes are tied to Mnangagwa, they will forever be beholden to him.”

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HARARE - The Grain Marketing Board (GMB) has ventured into selling of small grain in a bid to compete with other millers and deliver on its mandate in a financially sustainable manner that is less reliant on the fiscus.

This comes as Cabinet recently approved GMB’s request to have two separate entities, one dealing with the maintenance of the strategic grain reserve (SGR), and the other operating a fully-fledged commercial entity.

In this light, GMB’s commercial entity has moved to advertise the selling of small grains that include pearl millet, red and white sorghum at $250 per metric tonne.

In a notice yesterday, GMB said maize stockfeeds will sell at $150 per metric tonne.

Speaking at a recent tour of the Aspindale depot in February, GMB general manager Rockie Mutenha said commercialisation was part of the parastatal’s 100-day plan.

“We want to separate the two so that we become focused on grain management, while the commercial entity becomes viable. We want to compete with other millers and if we continue to mix the two we will not be focused,” he said.

“We want to keep those lines of business clearly separate and well accounted for . . . Our commercial entity will be self-financing.

“At the moment, because it is being run as one, we end up clouding issues. Taking funds from the commercial to support the SGR and vice versa,” added Mutenha.

The event was attended by Lands, Agriculture and Rural Resettlement minister Perrance Shiri.

GMB has been confronted with a number of challenges, including unsustainable overhead costs due to a low revenue base created by recurrent droughts and unviable commercial activities.

Ageing grain storage infrastructure which was not being maintained at optimal levels, coupled with liquidity challenges have also hampered productivity.

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HARARE - A Chinese couple has been arraigned before the court after they were found in possession of five sachets of cocaine.

Cheng Lixiang, 34, and Zhang Xiaohui, 33, who are husband and wife were granted $500 bail when they appeared before Harare magistrate Victoria Mashamba.

State had opposed bail arguing that Lixiang had a pending case before the courts where he was being accused of forging documents to get a work permit.

However, his defence counsel successfully argued that having a pending case before the courts does not prove that Lixiang will be a flight risk.

Allegations are that on April 28 2018 detectives received information to the effect that the duo who reside in Gunhill, Harare were dealing in dangerous drugs and were in possession of an unregistered firearm.

A warrant of search and seizure was applied for and duly issued by a magistrate at Harare magistrate court on April 28, 2018.

The court heard that, on April 30, at around 100hours detectives proceeded to the accused’s house to execute the warrant.

A search was conducted in the house in the presence of Xiaohui and three sachets of cocaine were recovered from a gun cabin.

It is further alleged that a further search was conducted in the lounge leading to the recovery of two more sachets of cocaine inside a table drawer.

The cocaine was seized by the police and a field test was conducted at CID drugs and narcotics Harare and the recovered 5 sachets of cocaine tested positive for cocaine.

The test was conducted in the presence of the accused person leading to her arrest.

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HARARE - The Supreme Court has shut the door on the government-owned Zimbabwe Consolidated Diamond Company (ZCDC) after throwing out its appeal, in which it challenged a High Court order barring it from selling diamonds belonging to Grandwell Holdings (Grandwell) in the Chiadzwa mining fields.

The Supreme Court order comes after Grandwell, which is represented by Sternford Moyo and owns 50 percent shareholding in Mbada Diamonds (Mbada), successfully approached the High Court with an application seeking an order barring ZCDC from looting its diamond ore.

Supreme Court judges’ deputy chief justice Elizabeth Gwaunza, Bharat Patel and Chinembiri Bhunu on Friday threw out ZCDC’s appeal with costs, thereby upholding the High Court decision.

“The appeal by Zimbabwe Consolidated Diamond Company (Private) Limited was dismissed by the Supreme Court and Zimbabwe Consolidated Diamond Company (Private) Limited was ordered to pay costs on a higher scale on the basis that the appeal was completely without merit,” Moyo said.

The High Court ruling, which remained in force following the Supreme Court order reads: “Pending the appeal filed by the first respondent (ZCDC) under case number SC 159/2017, the first and second respondents (ZCDC and Minerals Marketing of Zimbabwe) and those acting on their behalf be and are hereby interdicted from collecting, from third respondent’s (Grandwell) concession area, diamond ore mined by the third respondent, accessing areas secured by security personnel of the third respondent or otherwise interfering in any manner with such security arrangements in relation to the said concession area as per interim relief granted by this honourable court on the 24th of February 2017.

“Should the first and second respondents fail to comply with paragraph 1 above and to purge their failure to comply with the interim order granted by Justice Tsanga on the 24th of February 2017 under Case Number 1290/17, they shall be denied audience before this honourable court and any papers filed by them shall be struck out of the record”.

Mbada Diamonds was among one of the companies that were forced to leave the diamond-rich fields in Chiadzwa by the government in early 2016 to pave way for the establishment of ZCDC.

The firm was granted a court order allowing its security personnel to return to Chiadzwa and secure its equipment, diamond ore and unprocessed diamonds kept in a vault.

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HARARE - Chaos yesterday rocked the Nelson Chamisa-led MDC primary elections after the party shelved the internal polls to choose parliamentary candidates until Wednesday.

The postponement was ostensibly to allow the party’s national executive members, who are currently monitoring selection of council candidates, to return.

The MDC has since held primary elections in two of its Matabeleland provinces — Bulawayo and Matabeleland South — which were incident -free after the majority of the candidates were confirmed by consensus.

The party had planned that elections would be held yesterday in Harare, Masvingo, Chitungwiza and Mashonaland East provinces before concluding with Manicaland and Mashonaland Central and West today.

But MDC secretary for elections Murisi Zwizwai yesterday told the Daily News that only elections for council candidates were proceeding after the party resolved to wait until Wednesday until members of the MDC national executive, who are working with the electoral commission in various provinces, to return.

“We will continue with MPs primaries on Wednesday because the majority of national executive members are also candidates and others are even sitting MPs so we thought it was wise to allow them to come back first so that they also get time to campaign before elections are held in their constituencies,” Zwizwai said.

When the Daily News visited some constituencies in Chitungwiza and Harare, only the selection of council candidates was underway.

In Chitungwiza for example, MDC national organising secretary Rangarirai Mutingwende said elections had been suspended because; “In Zengeza East, the sitting MP Alexei Musundire is not available and so is Simon Chidhakwa for Zengeza West”.

“We were told that elections can go ahead in orphaned constituencies where we do not have an incumbent for example in Chitungwiza South. Only ward elections are ongoing,” Mutingwende who is   also eyeing Zengeza West constituency, said.

On Saturday, the party held internal elections in Bulawayo province, where four constituencies out of a possible 12 were hived-off to the other alliance partners, leaving it with eight.

The MDC is trying to avoid the chaos that characterised the just-ended Zanu PF primary elections, which were marred by electoral irregularities.

In Bulawayo Central, for example, Nicky Brown was confirmed by consensus to represent the MDC.

The sitting Member of Parliament for the area, Dorcas Sibanda, is going through as the party’s proportional representative MP.

In Njube, Gift Banda won the consensus vote, and so did James Sithole (Makokoba), Jack Banda (Luveve) and Kunashe Muchemwa (Bulawayo South).

Thabitha Khumalo, the sitting MP for Bulawayo East and acting MDC spokesperson, did not seek re-election after going through as a proportional representative MP.

Elections were, however, held for Magwegwe, Entumbane and Mpopoma, but the result were not available at the time of going to print.

Voting in these elections started around midday, without incident.

In Matabeleland South province, the elections were held on Friday.

Out of a total of 13 constituencies in Matabeleland South, six were to MDC Alliance partners, leaving Chamisa’s MDC-T with seven.

Primary elections were held in only two constituencies, Umzingwane and Insiza North, which were won by Khumbulani Moyo and David Masuku, respectively.

In the other five constituencies, the candidates were selected through consensus.

The party will be represented in Bulilima East, Mangwe, Matobo South, Matobo North and Gwanda South by Solani Moyo, Vincent Sihlabo, Zanele Dube, Amos Ndlovu and Akim Moyo, respectively.

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HARARE - The Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP) should be applauded for re-launching patrol units countrywide as this will help curb crime.

Commissioner-General Godwin Matanga was spot-on when he recently bemoaned the absence of police officers on the streets, ordering them to resume patrols.

Matanga said it was worrisome that streets were devoid of police patrols save for security personnel from private companies.

Police officers should always be visible in the community as their visibility has the capacity to reduce crime.

In recent years, muggings and thefts have increased, hence the call for 24-hour police patrols.

Communities, on the other hand, should take advantage of the patrols and assist police in fighting crime in their neighbourhoods.

The absence of police patrols has seen a surge in housebreakings with families losing household goods while robbers have also targeted businesses.

Recent reports of female teachers being raped at schools while others are robbed growth points due to the absence of police in communities.

The success of police patrols will, in the long run, boost the public’s image of police services as crime would be dealt with timeously.

These patrol units should also be deployed in congested towns and cities where thieves and criminals operating in syndicates take advantage of human traffic, stealing from unsuspecting people.

They must also cover notorious bus termini where travellers are harassed by touts and in the process lose valuables in broad daylight.

In the cities and towns, hopefully the police patrols will manage to bring order to traffic as drivers seem to break road rules; entering traffic light-controlled intersections and driving along wrong lanes.

Notorious kombi and mushika-shika drivers are now in the habit of parking on the roads, hence making roads inaccessible to other traffic.

In recent months, it took ages for traffic police to attend to accidents because they were absent from the streets. The delay in attending to road accidents creates jams as vehicles involved block traffic for long periods.

Apart from police street patrols, the ZRP’s traffic department must also conduct highway patrols to minimise lawlessness on our main roads.

Bringing back police patrols should not be licence for officers to harass innocent people while it is hoped gaps leading to corruption resurfacing will not be opened up.

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HARARE - Harare City fathers should spare a thought for motorists and put markings on the city’s roads which have now become death traps, especially at night.

The markings on our roads in and around the city are no longer visible and motorists are unknowingly encroaching into other motorists’ lanes.

I do not think it could kill or puncture Harare City Council’s budget if it were to purchase a few drums of paint to mark the roads.

It is even more dangerous driving at night, more so when it is raining as visibility diminishes and motorists have to guess where the markings could be.

While some of the roads have been re-tarred, it is sad that council has failed to script markings, hence a job half done.

The re-tarred roads are even more dangerous at night as they are now just a single stretch, hence confusing most motorists.

In certain instances, accidents are the inevitable result.

We hope the mayor and his councillors, most of whom are drivers, will take time to deliberate on this issue as it needs urgent attention.

While those drivers, who live in Harare and know the roads, can easily navigate their way — even without markings — it is very difficult for those drivers coming from outside the city.

The kombis and mushika-shikas have taken advantage of the absence of markings and they are breaking road rules which results in cars locking at several intersections.

The city fathers should be reminded that it is their duty to maintain the city’s roads if Harare is to compete with other African cities.

In other African cities, it is a marvel to drive and road maintenance is an everyday activity unlike here in Harare where repairs are done after an outcry.

We have tourists, businesspeople and other visitors to Harare who should not have difficulty driving in and around the city’s roads because they do not have standard markings.

Harare should also learn to be innovative and partner paint companies so together they implement a project to mark our roads.

We also have city councils that are charging motorists to park in and around towns and cities, yet even the parking bays from where they are making a killing, are not visibly marked.

Where is the money charged everyday for parking in the city going to if it is not being used to improve the capital’s road infrastructure that includes markings?

We have some drivers who are short-sighted, hence the importance of clear and visible markings.

I would have thought that after every rainy season, council would repaint the markings which could have been washed away by the rains.

But it seems most of the markings are years old and the paint has completely faded off.

It is a pity that even in President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s 100 days, the city fathers failed to put paint markings on the roads.

They couldn’t afford to buy a tin of paint?

It is my hope that the new council coming in after this year’s harmonised elections would have the city at heart and maintain our roads to acceptable international standards.

There is also need for the council to erect clear road signs on all strategic roads, this apart from direction signs for in and out of Harare motorists.

We need clear signs to direct visitors or tourists who want to travel out of the city to Kariba, Bulawayo, Mutare or Gokwe.

The city fathers have a lot of work to do sprucing our roads and as I said earlier, a little paint would not kill!

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