adminPresident arrives in New York for UNGA
Caesar Zvayi in NEW YORK
PRESIDENT Mugabe and his delegation arrived here yesterday to attend the 67th Session of the United Nations General Assembly that opened at the UN Headquarters on Tuesday.
The President, who is accompanied by the First Lady Amai Grace Mugabe, Foreign Affairs Minister Simbarashe Mumbengegwi and senior Government officials, was met at JFK International Airport by Zimbabwe’s Ambassador to the United Nations Chitsaka Chipaziwa and embassy staff.
The session opened with a call for peaceful solutions to international disputes at a time when the UN host country, the United States, has embarked on a concerted campaign of aggression in the Middle East and Africa.
Washington’s sabre-rattling has been largely held in check by the veto powers of China and Russia in the Security Council.
President Mugabe is scheduled to address the General Assembly during the annual debate that begins on September 25 and runs until October 1.
The Syrian conflict, peaceful resolution of international disputes and an efficient global co-ordinated response to terrorism are among the important issues expected to dominate debate in the 193-member UNGA whose theme this year centres on peaceful resolution of conflicts.
The annual debate will be preceded by a high-level meeting on the rule of law at national and international levels, during which member-states will deliberate on strengthening the rule of law.
Addressing the opening session on Tuesday, UNGA president, Mr Vuk Jeremic, Serbia’s former foreign minister, underscored the importance of peace and security in overcoming the prevailing global economic crisis.
He also outlined the main areas of focus for this year’s session, whose overarching theme is peaceful settlement of international disputes.
Other important high-level meetings and initiatives on energy, women’s health, nutrition and education, peace and security challenges are also expected to
PM’s father-in-law bares soul
Lloyd Gumbo Herald Reporter
ZANU-PF Central Committee Member Cde Joseph Macheka says he accepts Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai as his son-in-law and his marriage to his daughter Elizabeth will not affect his allegiance to the revolutionary party.
The former mayor of Chitungwiza said he would respect Mr Tsvangirai as a son-in-law because he properly paid lobola for his daughter.
“I am Zanu-PF and that will not change.
“We have to learn to co-exist with whoever we don’t agree with in terms of ideas. He married my daughter properly, so I will respect him as a son-in-law.”
PM Tsvangirai married Ms Elizabeth Macheka last Saturday in a customary law union after the magistrate’s courts cancelled a marriage licence it had issued.
The marriage licence was nullified at the instigation of the PM’s other wife, Ms Locardia Karimatsenga.
Ms Karimatsenga argued that if Mr Tsvangirai was allowed to have a registered monogamous marriage with Ms Macheka, her status as the PM’s first wife would have been invalidated.
Cde Macheka said his daughter did not know the implications of some relationships because she was not interested in politics.
“Elizabeth doesn’t know politics because she has no interest in it. The reason is that I did not raise her. She was raised by her grandmother, but all the other ones I raised have an understanding of politics so they would know the implications of some relationships,” he said.
Speaking at the mock wedding ceremony on Saturday, Cde Macheka said he hoped his daughter would quickly catch up with politics to match PM Tsvangirai.
“When I heard that she was in love with the PM, I called her and said: Mai Rumbi, are you sure that you are in love with the PM and she said ‘yes’.”
“I said ‘What do you like in him?’ And she said she just liked him. I said to her that life with Tsvangirai is different from that of her previous husband who was a civil
Unblended fuel faces ban
Tendai Mugabe Senior Reporter
GOVERNMENT will ban the sale of unblended petrol in the next two months, Deputy Prime Minister Arthur Mutambara has said.
This follows Cabinet approval on Tuesday to introduce mandatory blending of fuel with ethanol, starting with E-5.
“All the fuel will be blended with ethanol. As a starting point, the mandatory blending should be at five percent level.
“People have a fear of the unknown. We used to have mandatory blending in the 1970s. CMED is currently using blend,” he said.
DPM Mutambara said the mandatory use of E-5 would however, be a success if Government and Green Fuel agreed on negotiations to change ownership structure of the ethanol plant in Chisumbanje from a Build-Operate-and-Transfer arrangement to a Joint Venture.
Cabinet directed that its recommendations on the conversion of Green Fuel from BOT to a JV and subsequent adoption of E-5 should be done in two months.
Following the adoption of mandatory blending, all petrol that comes into Zimbabwe would be blended with five percent ethanol before it is sold to the public.
DPM Mutambara said mandatory blending was not new to Zimbabwe.
He said the Ian Smith regime introduced it during the colonial era and it was even used after independence.
DPM Mutambara said before reaching the decision to introduce mandatory blending, they made wide consultations with stakeholders in the motoring industry.
The stakeholders assured them that all car models had no problem in using E-5.
“E-5 is also the ideal starting point because none of the car manufacturers and sellers has a problem with that level of ethanol, whereas there were complaints about certain vehicles’ compatibility with E-10.”
DPM Mutambara said the E-5 mandatory blending level would boost sales of ethanol from the 0,6 million litres to 2,3 million litres per day.
A stakeholder in the petroleum industry, who declined to be named, welcomed the decision to introduce mandatory blending.
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