adminCensus preps hit stormy waters
Takunda Maodza Senior Reporter
THE envisaged national population census hit stormy waters yesterday with riot police sealing off venues where training of enumerators was supposed to take place amid reports that MDC-T wanted to hijack the process for political expediency.
The situation was reportedly the same at most centres countrywide where police in riot gear barred people from accessing the venues.
Chief police spokesperson Senior Assistant Commissioner Wayne Bvudzijena could not be drawn to comment on the issue last night.
Confusion reined after the Ministry of Finance, which oversees the census, announced the suspension of the training of enumerators at a hastily-convened Press conference on Monday evening.
Acting Finance Minister Gorden Moyo confirmed that the census had a false start following disagreement among civil servants on the composition of who should partake in the process.
Scores of prospective enumerators yesterday milled around the venues amid reports that MDC-T, from which the Finance Minister is drawn, sought to hijack the process for political reasons and was averse to having members of the security forces taking part for fear of exposure.
Minister Moyo announced the suspension of training, raising the ire the prospective enumerators.
Cabinet, however, shot down the proposal yesterday and said the security services should be given a quota of the slots though the bulk of enumerators will be recruited from the education sector. The census will run from August 17 to 27.
Parly ratifies protocols of US$380m loan facility
Zvamaida Murwira Senior Reporter
PARLIAMENT yesterday ratified three protocols of a loan facility worth US$380 million from the Export-Import Bank of China.
The first protocol related to the rehabilitation of Victoria Falls International Airport to the tune of US$150 million.
The project, to be spearheaded by the Civil Aviation Authority of Zimbabwe, was signed on April 5 this year.
It is part of Zimbabwe’s preparations for the United Nations World Tourism Organisation General Assembly to be held in the resort town.
There was also a US$141 million loan facility from the same bank on the development and rehabilitation of municipal water and sewage treatment works for the City of Harare.
The third protocol related to an US$89 million loan facility on a medical equipment and supplies project.
Acting Finance Minister Gorden Moyo said the money was cheap because it attracted two percent interest per annum, while both management fee and commitment fee attracted 0,5 percent respectively.
Parliament had to be recalled to ratify the agreement as China will next month evaluate all its international deals and cancel those that had not been ratified, said Minister Moyo.
He however, came under fire from fellow MDC-T legislators for asking them to “rubber stamp” the three protocols.
ZDF rehearsals now under way
Herald Reporter
THE Zimbabwe Defence Forces have started rehearsals for drills to be performed on the Defence Forces Day commemorations on Tuesday next week. The commemorations will be held at the 60 000-seater
‘No need to penalise firms over incomplete projects’
Herald Reporter
THERE is need to impose penalties on companies that fail to complete projects awarded to them through the State Procurement Board, Parliament heard yesterday. The legislators say this is part of
Chimombe buried
Richmore Tera Herald Reporter
PEOPLE from different walks of life yesterday afternoon thronged Granville Cemetery in Harare to bid farewell to musician Freddy Chimombe.
Tour de Tuli attracts over 500 tourists
Thupeyo Muleya Beitbridge Bureau
Over 500 tourists took part in this year’s annual Tour de Tuli tourism expedition. The event is held in the Greater Mapungubwe Mega Park, which is made up of Botswana, Zimbabwe and South Africa.
Shariff to join CAPS United
Petros Kausiyo Deputy Sports Editor
FORMER Warriors manager Shariff Mussa is bouncing back into mainstream football following an audacious bid by Premiership giants CAPS United yesterday to lure the Harare businessman into their
Artistic expression, illusion and heroism
Hildegarde Manzvanzvike The ArenaTHE best way to describe any art form, be it a painting, sculpture, piece of writing, designing or acting is that it reveals the unknown and the unexpected — the hidden elements.
Artists are the idealists any society desires, for they dream and envision that which we would never think of, and in the process, we immortalise their creations.
William Faulkner puts it so well: “The aim of every artist is to arrest motion, which is life, by artificial
Makandiwa will not register
Peter Matambanadzo Senior Reporter
United Family International Church leader Prophet Emmanuel Makandiwa has said he will not register with the
D-Day for Copac draft
Takunda Maodza Herald Reporter
ZANU-PF’S Politburo meets today to finalise its audit of the draft Constitution that will determine whether the party endorses or rejects the document.
At its last meeting, the Politburo raised questions on why people’s views were not properly captured in the draft.
It also noted that the document deviated from what was captured during the outreach programme.
Zanu-PF spokesperson Cde Rugare Gumbo yesterday said his party will come up with a final position at today’s meeting.
“We look forward to finalising on the document. There is no reason why we will not finalise it today,” he said.
Cde Gumbo said Zanu-PF members who were part of the Constitution-making process at Copac level had overlooked some of the critical issues, hence the need for the Politburo to digest these and see how they maybe incorporated in the final document.
“They overlooked some of the critical issues, which Politburo felt needed to be re-emphasised to reflect the views of the people,” he said.
Zanu-PF is revisiting the document chapter-by-chapter and sentence-by-sentence to ensure that what was captured during the outreach exercise is included in the final document.
The party has dismissed reports in some sections of the media that it is divided over the draft Constitution.