Zimbabwe Presidium after being sworn in during 2004. The ruling ZANU-PF party contested national elections on March 29, 2008.
Originally uploaded by Pan-African News Wire File Photos
Herald Reporters
ACTING President Joice Mujuru has urged Zimbabweans to help raise funds to revive the health sector while Vice President Cde Joseph Msika yesterday called on the private sector, civil society and other organisations to support HIV and Aids infected and affected people.
Cde Mujuru said such a private-public partnership would go a long way in creating a sound health delivery system.
The Acting President was speaking at the running of the inaugural "Health For All Charity Race Day" at Borrowdale Park Racecourse on Sunday, which was held under the theme "Race Your Dreams to Reality" and relevantly so on the eve of World Aids Day.
The charity racing event was meant to mobilise funds from members of the public and the private sector. The funds would be channelled towards buying equipment, pharmaceutical drugs and repairing damaged equipment in the country’s hospitals and clinics.
"Private-public assistance and funding will go a long way in putting together funds that will help revive the health sector, which has been crippled by Western-imposed illegal sanctions. We should give to the fund in order to see the health delivery system revived and strengthened to a position of better serving the people.
"We should also remind our sons and daughters in the Diaspora to also contribute to this new fund, which shall be administered by a committee of people drawn from various sections of the society, who all have a common goal of seeing a stronger health delivery system," Cde Mujuru urged.
Health and Child Welfare Minister Dr David Parirenyatwa reminded people that improving the health delivery system was imperative drawing on the challenges of HIV/Aids and other communicable diseases as a greater incentive for people to unite and improve the health service.
He declared war on disease, urging people to reciprocally form a coalition of the willing against disease, as various diseases had also come together to plague humankind hence the need to return the "favour".
"With the problem of cholera at the moment, it is important to have adequate medicines in stock and sound machinery in our hospitals and health centres. Cholera, in concert with other diseases like HIV and Aids, malaria and tuberculosis, renders a nation weak and vulnerable.
"We need as much funding as we can get in order to combat this cocktail of diseases that is plaguing us and I want to thank the committee and coalition of businesspeople and individuals, including Mashonaland Turf Club, who have donated this race day on their calendar, for their effort at helping Government raise funds for the improvement of the health delivery system," said Dr Parirenyatwa.
The initiative is looking at raising US$67 million through a fund-raising sub-committee chaired by broadcaster Hugo Ribatika.
Once the money has been raised, it will be administered by a committee that will be audited, with the public being privy to the handling of the funds for the sake of transparency.
Speaking at Chipadze Stadium during the 2008 World Aids Day national commemoration yesterday, Vice President Cde Msika called upon the private sector, civil society and other organisations to join hands with Government and scale up treatment, care and support for both the HIV and Aids infected and affected people.
"I have observed that although our country is well recognised all over the world for tremendous achievement in HIV prevention, our national response to the pandemics remained blighted by daring gaps in treatment, care and support.
"I have always said that as much as the delivery of the health service is the responsibility of Government, it cannot be done effectively without the support of the private sector, civil society and other organisations," he said.
Cde Msika expressed concern at the declining response to the HIV and Aids pandemic nationally.
"Despite an improvement in the availability in supply of the anti-retroviral drugs, very few clients were increment on ARV therapy compared to other years," he said.
VP Msika said he was sure the decline was not linked to national economic challenges since Government had put measures to assist people leaving with HIV and Aids have access to drugs.
"As far as I am concerned this problem points to a bottleneck to our management structures which I urge the Ministry of Health to rationalize immediately," Cde Msika said.
He warned Zimbabweans that the advent of ARVs and easy access to drugs was, however, not a licence to promiscuity and immorality.
The Vice President said the call to scale up treatment, care and support did not mean a budgetary increment but commitments from all stakeholders, policy and care-givers.
HIV and Aids victims, Cde Msika said, required proper feeding which he said was appropriately captured on this year’s theme.
The commemorations were held under the theme: Zimbabwe — Proven Leadership and HIV Prevention; scale-up treatment, care and support.
"Good nutrition is an integral part of the life of people living with HIV as malnutrition associated with HIV infection has dire consequences on the health and quality of life of these people," he said.
He called for a paradigm shift such that more men actively participate in all HIV and Aids-related programmes.
"Past experiences have shown that man usually take a lay-back approach in HIV and Aids programmes only participating when they are given care by our women folks after getting infected," he said.
Speaking at the same occasion Zimbabwe Aids Network director Ms Lindiwe Chaza-Jangira said while Zimbabwe was celebrating the recent decline in HIV prevalence rate, organisations should take the lead in measuring the success and failures from various programmes.
Currently the HIV prevalence rate stood at 15,1 percent down from 18,1 percent in 2006, statistics that have since been endorsed by international organisations.
Ms Chaza-Jangira said while the country has success stories in HIV and Aids prevention, orphans and other vulnerable children, care, treatment and support there were other areas which were overlooked.
"We have areas like prisons and mental health, which are overlooked and a potential area in increasing HIV prevalence rate," Ms Chaza-Jangira said.
She lamented the hyperinflationary environment that has crippled supplementary feeding for people living with HIV and Aids.
Speaking at the same occasion, the deputy Minister of Health and Child Welfare Dr Edwin Muguti said Government hoped to increase the number of people living with HIV and Aids on anti-retroviral drugs.
Currently, there are 140 000 people on the programme yet an estimated 300 000 are in dire need of the drugs.
Dr Muguti said with the recent approval of Zimbabwe’s round eight application to the Global Fund to Fight HIV and Aids and the Expanded Support Programme, Government is set to increase clinics dispensing ARVs.
Water woes persist
Herald Reporters
WATER woes persisted in Harare yesterday as almost all the city’s suburbs, industrial areas and the central business district had no supplies.
This forced businesses and Government institutions to send workers back home by lunchtime while others remained with critical staff only.
Residents criss-crossed the city in search of water while some Good Samaritans with boreholes at their residences and institutions such as schools, sports clubs, clinics and business came to the rescue of the residents by allowing them to draw supplies from their premises.
Some residents were also observed collecting water from unprotected sources despite the cholera outbreak that has claimed more than 390 lives since August.
Government yesterday met business as efforts to find a lasting solution continue.
The meeting, chaired by Water and Infrastructural Development Deputy Minister Cde Walter Mzembi and attended by the Minister of State for Policy Implementation Cde Webster Shamu, comes amid concern by business that they were being forced to stop operating because of lack of water.
Speaking to journalists before the meeting, Confederation of Zimbabwe Industries president Mr Kumbirai Katsande urged Government to expeditiously find a lasting solution to the water woes.
"The water crisis is a serious issue as business has no option but to close shop for the day. We have had to send workers home and this would have a negative impact on the country’s economy," he said.
Mr Katsande urged responsible officials to come out in the open so that authorities know the correct situation on the ground.
Zinwa has attributed the current water cuts to chemical shortages despite having received funding from the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe.
Zinwa spokesperson Mr Tsungirirai Shoriwa yesterday said some chemicals had started trickling in.
He said they expected production at Morton Jaffray Waterworks, Harare’s main water treatment plant, to resume yesterday afternoon.
"We expect Morton Jaffray to start pumping at low capacity late this afternoon (yesterday) with areas in the central business district, industry and some western suburbs (Glen View, Budiriro, Mufakose Kambuzuma, Highfield and Glen Norah) being expected to start accessing water by midnight.
"Other areas are expected to start accessing water as the week progresses, but that depends on the availability of chemicals some of which are sourced from outside the country," he said.
However, unconfirmed reports yesterday said Government was by late yesterday battling to clear some trucks carrying chemicals from South Africa but still on the other side of the border in Musina.
Meanwhile, business ground to a halt in the CBD with companies advising their staff to go home and come back to work when the water situation improved.
This is the second time in a month that companies have been forced to send workers home after Zinwa cut water supplies citing acute shortages of water chemicals and pump breakdowns at Morton Jaffray Waterworks.
Workers at the Registrar-General’s Offices said the complex have been without water for sometime and supplies were only restored on Friday only to be disconnected at the weekend.
Yesterday the RG’s Office was open but workers said they would be going home at lunchtime.
At Mukwati and Kaguvi buildings, Government workers said the buildings have not been receiving water especially offices from the Fourth Floor and above.
The situation was the same in the heavy industrial areas with companies exempting their workers from duty while others continued to run with skeleton staff.
Residents of Warren Park, Glen View and Kuwadzana said they stopped receiving water on Saturday morning without warning and feared the situation might fuel the cholera outbreak in the city.
Mr Charles Chirema of Crowborough North, who was fetching water from a vandalised pipe in the suburb, said they have been getting their water from the pipe since Friday last week.
"After failing to get water since Friday, residents removed the manhole lid to gain entry to the valves and have resorted to get water from the pipe. We are, however, encouraging residents to boil the water since people are using different containers to fetch the water," he said.
Mr Nicholas Mareya of Mt Pleasant said they were relying on neighbours with boreholes for a fee.
"I am actually driving from my uncle’s place where I got this water for drinking. The area has been receiving intermittent supplies over the past month," he said.
Residents in Highfield and Mbare raised concern at the current water crisis, saying this was the first time in years that the two suburbs had completely run dry.
"I have lived in Highfield all my life, but this is the first time I have experienced such a water crisis," Mr Michael Kudyanga said.
Rainbow Towers Hotel, which was hosting a workshop for parliamentarians, had to close ablution facilities because of the water crisis.
Residents in Glen View and Budiriro where boreholes were sunk are still to draw water from them as bush pumps were still to be installed.
Residents in Belvedere were relying on neighbours with boreholes while some had to buy.
Informal traders were cashing in on the crisis selling plastic containers to desperate residents fetching water.
A 25-litre plastic container was going for US$25 while for a 30-litre container one had to fork out US$40.
When The Herald visited Morton Jaffray Waterworks at around 2pm, the plant was shut down with Zinwa workers saying they had stopped pumping on Sunday due to the acute shortage of aluminum sulphate and were still to receive chemicals.
"We are informed that RBZ provided funding for the procurement of water chemicals, but we are baffled that to date we have not received any consignment.
"At the moment we are not treating any water, but we hope things will normalise soon," said one of the workers.
The water crisis comes at a time when the country is battling to contain a cholera outbreak.
Procure cattle vaccines, town clerk told
Herald Reporter
HARARE City Council’s finance committee has expressed concern over the rampant deaths of cattle at municipal farms and tasked the town clerk to urgently procure vaccines to curb further losses.
The committee recently toured the farms for an assessment and produced a report on the situation.
According to the findings of the committee, some animals were "on the verge of dying".
‘The committee conducted a tour of the three council farms . . . and observed with concern several carcasses of cattle as well as other cattle on the verge of dying," read the committee’s report.
"The committee queried whether council had adequate vaccines and noted that council was experiencing unnecessary losses from such deaths."
The minutes say town clerk Mr Tendai Mahachi told the committee some vaccines had been procured.
The committee resolved that the "the town clerk assesses the availability of vaccinations and urgently take action to curb cattle deaths at council farms and submit a report to the environmental management committee"’
Council intends to sell 500 of its cattle.
"On November 4, 2008, the environmental management committee had recommended to council, subject to the concurrence of the finance committee, that council authorises the sale of 500 head of cattle at the Harare farms," adds the minutes.
Council intends to split money from cattle sales proportionally to the departments of engineering services, finance, and waste management and Harare farms.
Harare farms will receive US$37 620, engineering services US$50 000, waste management US$35 380 while US$25 000 will be set aside for upgrading council’s computer system.
However, the committee noted that council does not have "a cattle weighing scale", compromising the determination of a fair price during sales.
The committee was disturbed by the status of the city’s farms after it observed that the perimeter fences had been destroyed "such that cattle could be seen grazing beyond farm boundaries".
The dilapidated state of the boundary fences was attributed to vandalism with the department of engineering services saying funds would be provided in the 2009 budget to replace the fences and buy a weighing scale.
Zanu-PF conference preps at advanced stage
Herald Reporter
Provinces have made significant contributions towards the hosting of Zanu-PF Annual People’s Conference with Mashonaland East topping the list after donating more than $500 quadrillion.
The conference will be held next week in Bindura.
In an interview yesterday, Zanu-PF secretary for finance Cde David Karimanzira applauded Mashonaland East for the generosity and challenged other provinces to do the same.
"We want to thank Mashonaland East for topping the list by raising more than $500 quadrillion instead of the $2 billion each province was supposed to raise," Cde Karimanzira said.
He said Bulawayo was on second place followed by Masvingo and Matabeleland North without divulging the amounts the provinces had raised.
"Others have done well but we still have two other provinces that have not made any contributions. We remind them to do so.
"We want to continue raising money because prices are changing everyday as a result of inflation.
"The budget keeps changing as well and there is no time we can say we have raised enough money," Cde Karimanzira said.
Initially, the ruling party had targeted to raise $50 billion for the occasion with each province tasked to contribute $2 billion with the head office expected to raise $30 billion.
Mashonaland Central province, which is hosting the annual event, has pledged 122 beasts and 10 000 litres of fuel.
The remaining nine provinces are expected to contribute 45 cattle.
Cde Karimanzira appealed for more donations not only from the party’s province but also from individuals and well wishers.
"We urge the provincial finance committees to remain active in fundraising and we remind head office to continue raising money," Cde Karimanzira said.
‘Modern diplomacy must address national interests’
Herald Reporter
MODERN diplomacy must now address issues of national interest not only those affecting State power and influence, but also those that critically impinging on the well-being of the nation’s citizens, a Cabinet minister has said.
Acting Minister of Foreign Affairs Cde Amos Midzi said if modern diplomacy addresses national interests, this would have a positive impact on people’s diverse interests and aspirations.
He said this yesterday while delivering a keynote address during a special and diplomatic workshop for Members of Parliament organised by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to impart to legislators knowledge on international relations and diplomacy.
"Effective diplomacy must now employ the current communication tools and techniques that reach beyond narrow bounds of traditional constituencies, including harnessing the reinvigorated role of parliaments in international relations. Foreign ministries the world over will continue to intensify in the process their facilitative and co-ordinative tasks," he said.
He said globalisation and the dual process of internationalisation of domestic affairs and domestication of international affairs brought new challenges for MPs worldwide.
This, he said, gave rise to the need for legislators to participate in international relations.
Cde Midzi said these dynamic processes have increased the role of national parliaments in international relations, posing serious challenges to the monopoly of the Executive and Ministries of Foreign Affairs in the domains of foreign policy, negotiation, treaty-making and diplomacy.
"The new role Members of Parliament play in international relations requires that MPs understand more the dynamic and complex processes and drivers of intercourse in the ever-evolving international system," said Cde Midzi.
"Domestic constituencies, which include yours, both Government and private, now communicate directly with their counterparts in other countries and with international organisations, substantially complicating the conduct of foreign affairs and the management of diplomatic relations."
He said there was a multiplicity of actors in international relations wielding critical impact on international affairs.
These include legislative institutions, government and non-governmental organisations, multinational corporations, individuals and private sector entities that interact directly and independently of foreign ministries and the traditional diplomatic channels of communication.
Cde Midzi said there was a tendency among some regional and supra-national and sub-national government entities such as cities to engage directly and not through national governments in international affairs.
"Such developments have created a new international system marked by the erosion of state sovereignty, posing a serious challenge to foreign ministries to maintain their role in mastering the control and management of foreign relations of the state," he said.
Officially opening the workshop, Deputy President of Senate Cde Naison Ndlovu said it was important that arms of Government have specialised knowledge on diplomacy.
He urged legislators to manage their party differences on specific issues when attending regional and international issues.
"Our long-tried and tested method of holding consultations within the delegation before leaving for an international meeting or conference has helped avoid antagonistic postures from within the same delegation of the Parliament of Zimbabwe," said Cde Ndlovu.
Clients stranded as bank charges soar
Bulawayo Bureau
HUNDREDS of Bulawayo residents were stranded yesterday after failing to withdraw money from a bank that had reviewed its charges to a whopping $2 billion.
The account holders — most of them civil servants — could not access their salaries as service charges, including the minimum balance, gobbled up a large chunk of their savings.
A number of workers expressed anger at the rate at which the commercial bank (name supplied) was reviewing its charges upwards.
The clients who asked not to be named for fear of victimisation said the bank was defying Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe Governor Dr Gideon Gono’s directive that charges should be pegged at low rates.
"We can’t have banks operating outside the law. The bank has just increased charges to $2 billion. We don’t earn such an amount and what do they expect us to live on," fumed one client.
The clients said the increase of bank charges was ill-timed since workers expected to withdraw $100 million on Thursday after the increase of the withdrawal limit from $500 000 a day to $100 million per week.
A number of the bank’s clients called on the central bank to intervene and save them.
Officials at the bank who declined to give their names said the charges reflected the real economic situation the country was going through.
"It just shows how bad things are. The charges are due to high operational costs," said one official.
Magistrates go on strike
HR.
THE strike by provincial magistrates in Harare and Chitungwiza in protest over what they describe as discrepancies in the allocation of cars and other undisclosed grievances yesterday entered the fifth day.
Water shortages at all the courts have worsened the situation as many courts operated only until lunch hour.
Clerks of court on Friday left the Harare Magistrates’ Courts around 9am for "the bank" leaving the senior clerk Ms Lydia Mutambirwa to open records for initial matters.
Harare provincial magistrate Mr Mishrod Guvamombe was yesterday still remanding cases at the Harare Magistrates’ Court while regional magistrates Mr Steven Musona and Mr William Bhila were at Mbare and Chitungwiza Courts respectively. — HR.
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