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Harmony Agere Extra Reporter—
TODAY, a new year with new plans and new resolutions begins.
To some, it’s an opportunity to start afresh in their various adventures and put the failures of 2016 behind them.
But for motivational speaker and life coach David Brazzeal, the past shapes one’s future as the two will always be entangled.
“The challenge is to draw on the past but not be bound by it,” he remarked in his motivational book, ‘Pray Like a Gourmet: Creative Ways of Feeding Your Soul’.
As such, The Sunday Mail Extra looks at some of the highlights that will make 2016 a memorable year and how they could shape 2017.
Power cuts
Load shedding might be a rarity these days but the memory of long hours without electricity between January and February 2016 reached unprecedented levels.
Consumers experienced days of load shedding, not hours. This was a result of reduced power generation at Kariba and Hwange Power Stations as well as low imports. The reasons were depleted water levels in Kariba Dam and obsolete equipment at Hwange.
However, the situation improved dramatically around May with Zesa assuring the public that load shedding was now a thing of the past.
ZETDC Managing Director, Engineer Julian Chinembiri revealed that the improvement was due to increased imports from South Africa and Mozambique as well as the installation of the Dema Emergence Diesel Power Plant.
Nevertheless, with Kariba Dam still a long way to full recovery and the country relying largely on imports, observers say the power situation is still delicate and could degenerate in 2017 should there be a problem in import destinations.
Engineer Chinembiri has already raised the red flag saying Zesa owes local and foreign suppliers about US$800 million dollars and could be disconnected anytime.
Introduction of STEM
The introduction of the Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) programme by Professor Jonathan Moyo through the Ministry of Higher and Tertiary Education, Science and Technology Development will surely make 2016 a year to remember for parents and students. The programme was meant to promote the uptake of STEM subjects through offering free education for lower six students who enrolled for these subjects.
The programme gained traction within months of its introduction with about 3 000 students having benefitted by March while close to a million dollars was spent.
Experts maintain that the fastest growing and highest earning careers in the future will be in STEM fields. They say sustainable socio-economic transformation can be driven by investing in STEM disciplines as it will result in the industrialisation of the economy and will also create employment.
On STEM, President Mugabe said, “There is need to equip learners with knowledge skills and values that guarantees economic growth and increased opportunities for employment creation, well-rounded citizens who are relevant nationally and competitive globally.”
There is likely to be growth in enrolment in STEM subjects this year.
Human trafficking
2016 also saw the heartbreaking human trafficking stories grabbing headlines in the media.
It was reported in the news around March that about 200 Zimbabwean women had been trafficked to Kuwait where they were being held in virtual servitude.
In one of the stories, a 20-year-old woman (identity protected) from Chitungwiza was beaten for refusing to work until her leg was broken. A message was sent to her family by a man identified as Andre Baba, through an audio, saying the family had to pay at least US$3000 for her to be released.
“Your sister cannot come home, no one can help her, and (the) Zimbabwean Embassy cannot help because the law here says she has to go to jail so you have to pay,” said Baba then.
“It’s either you pay the money or she goes back to work or to jail.”
Narrating her ordeal, the woman said, “We are not being given enough food here and we are harassed and beaten all the time. As we speak, my leg is broken but I’m not receiving any medical attention because we are always locked up.”
Most of the women were sent to Kuwait under the disguise of better job opportunities. Upon arrival in Kuwait, their passports and cell phones were seized and the women were used as sex slaves and for domestic servitude.
Government later intervened and has so far helped the majority of the women to come back home.
The country’s migration laws are expected to tighten in 2017 to prevent trafficking.
Drought
The year was also by multiple measurers a difficult year for many people. One of the causes was the El Nino induced drought which left crops and livestock ravaged.
According to the Zimbabwe Vulnerability Assessment Committee, the drought left at least 4 million people food insecure with Matebeleland provinces being the worst affected. This in turn left Government and its development partners in need of at least US$352 million to buy grain for the vulnerable groups.
In some areas, reports emerged that people were taking sadza without relish as livestock and vegetable gardens were destroyed. Be that as it may, Government still managed to mobilise food to avoid starvation for the vulnerable groups.
Scientists however say the El Nino has subsided and could be succeeded by La Nina which causes high amounts of rainfall. Since the start of the season, the country has received fairly good rainfall, thereby promising good yields in 2017.
With good preparations and the command agriculture, farmers believe 2017 will be a good year.
Quail birds/ Zvihuta
Never before has Zimbabwe seen a craze like that, some could argue.
The quail bird, popularly known as Chihuta in Shona or Isigwaca in Isindebele rose to unparalleled popularity mid-year as its meat and eggs sold like hot cakes in Zimbabwe.
Although the tiny bird sold at a considerably high price of US$6, they were still bought on a mass scale as word spread that they were highly nutritious and could cure certain diseases. Illnesses that include insomnia and cancers are among the ailments that the quail birds were said to be capable of healing.
Some have even gone on to say the bird’s meat and eggs can boost the immune system.
During the obsession, Chairperson of the Zimbabwe Quail Farmers Trust (ZQFT), Mr Campion Mutarisi confirmed that business was brisk as breeders, feeders and retailers flocked for the tiny birds.
It took the intervention of Environment, Water and Climate Minister Oppah Muchinguri to cool down the craze but those who caught the bird early had already ripped huge financial rewards.
National pledge
As has been the case ever since he took reigns in the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education, Dr Lazarus Dokora in May stirred controversy when he introduced the national schools pledge.
The move saw a debate during which some highlighted that it would inculcate national allegiance to the country while some attacked it, saying it was against their religious beliefs.
Street marches and protests were organised but Dr Dokora stark to his guns. It was ultimately embraced after the minister and religious leaders reached an understanding.
With the introduction of e-enrolment still fresh, parents and students can expect more changes in the education sector in 2017.
Medical Aid Impasse
In June, one of the most charged
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