MDC-T Far From Dead- Mwonzora

 

The Spokesperson of the Movement for Democratic Change led by Morgan Tsvangirai, Douglas Mwonzora, has vowed that his party will bounce back and defeat Zanu PF in the next elections.

Speaking at a public meeting in the capital on Thursday, Mwonzora said his party has the capacity to rise again.
“MDC- T has changed the political landscape in Zimbabwe; it is the strongest political party to ever grace Zimbabwe’s political landscape.
“Morgan Tsvangirai has the capacity to rule Zimbabwe again, like he did in 2008. Beware of a white wash 2018,” he added.
However, Zanu- PF Deputy Director from the Information and Publicity, Comrade Psychology Maziwisa said the MDC party was destined for the dustbins of history and that its future was hinged on the person controlling the party.
“The future of any political party lies in the calibre of the person leading that party; as long as Tsvangirai continues to be the leader of that party, MDC-T should forget.
Mwonzora said MDC- T was grounded on Nelson Mandela’s principle that says a sinner is a saint who keeps on trying.
“For all these years Tsvangirai has been fighting for change, revolution did not end in 1980,” Mwonzora said.
In spite of its elections defeat in the July 31 polls, the MDC- T party maintains that the 2013 elections did not reflect the true wishes of the people of Zimbabwe.
“This election was not an election at all, we were denied access to the voter’s roll, there was rampant abuse of state security agency, monopolization of the media and promotion of hate media by the public media.” Mwonzora said.

Published: September 28, 2013
/http://www.zimeye.org/?p=90726

Econet Introduces EcocashSave

Zimbabwe’s largest telecommunications provider, Econet Wireless Zimbabwe (EWZ) has introduced an additional service to its growing EcoCash brand which will allow customers to move their money to a bank account.

The new service launched in partnership with Steward Bank EcocashSave will enable citizens to operate a bank account through mobile phones.

Speaking at the press conference, Econet Wireless Zimbabwe, CEO Douglas Mboweni said the service was not only a new product in the market but a solution to Zimbabwe’s million people currently in unbanked bars.

Mboweni added that the service was motivated by the great principle to identify a need in society and provide a solution.

“EcocashSave is a service grounded on transforming people’s lives. Technology that does not transform people’s lives and without a positive impact to society is useless,” Mboweni said.

Speaking at the same occasion, Kwanele Ngwenya, Chief Executive Officer for Steward Bank said the service was a groundbreaking innovation set to deliver and change lives of the people and their relationship with the banks.

“Steward bank has brought banking to the unbanked,” Ngwenya said.

EcoCash CEO, Mr. Darlington Mandivenga said saving money with Ecocash was easy, convenient and built on the grounds for people to achieve their dreams and to become better entrepreneurs.

Over 3 million people in Zimbabwe now use Ecocash to send and receive money through the more than 7000 agents dotted throughout Zimbabwe.

http://www.zimeye.org/?p=91341

Women looking foward to receivig US$200m

The Chiadzwa diamond mining firm is inclusive of women supposedly, however the question is how inclusive is it?
The Zimbabwe Women in Mining is negotiating for a US$200 million deal with a South African investor to sponsor women to mine diamonds in the Chiadzwa area of Marange, an official has said.
Four diamond mining firms presently operate in Chiadzwa, namely Marange Resources, Mbada Diamonds, Anjin and the Diamond Mining Corporation.
Women in Mining president Ms Evelyn Musharu told New Ziana the association was sourcing funds to mine diamonds in Chiadzwa.
“A South African investor was in Zimbabwe and will be coming back to finalise the US$200 million deal. In about two weeks we will be signing the agreement with the investor,” she said.
Ms Musharu said the association had been granted a licence to mine the diamonds in partnership with the Government.
“If we finalise the deal we want to mine diamonds and we will concentrate more on value addition so that we sell polished diamonds,” she said.
The Zimbabwe Women in Mining is made up of 2 000 members. Zimbabwe has emerged as one of the major diamond producers in the world following the discovery of huge deposits in Chiadzwa a few years ago. - New Ziana.

Harare firms dominate ZITF

Need 4 revival of Bulawayo industries – this year’s edition of the Zimbabwe International Trade Fair (ZITF) was dominated by Harare companies who make up 57% of local exhibitors, with Bulawayo firms accounting for 35%.

More than 100 firms have closed in Bulawayo in the last few years citing feasibility constrains and the poor presence of city firms at the country’s premier trade showcase dash hopes of any imminent recovery prospects.

 Nqobile Bhebhe, from Chronicle reported that ZITF company chairman Bekithemba Nkomo told journalists that although participation at the fair was not different from last year, they were impressed by the quality of products being showcased.
But he bemoaned the poor turnout by city firms, which he described as worrying.

“The local exhibitor profile is made up of mostly companies from Harare (57%), while 35% of companies are from Bulawayo. Other cities account for 8%,” Nkomo said.

According to the official ZITF catalogue, notable Bulawayo-based companies at the fair include Datlabs, Treger Products, Zimplow , Turnal and Zimtile.

Over the years, companies in Bulawayo have been closing shop, while others relocated to Harare citing viability problems.

In 2011, the government set up the Distressed Industries and Marginalised Fund to address de-industrialisation, but only a few Bulawayo companies have managed to tap into the $40 million purse.

Nkomo also said participation by the manufacturing sector was still low.

“Overall, manufacturing companies make up 14% of total exhibitors, a testimony to the fact that manufacturing levels in the country, though picking up slowly, are still relatively low,” he said.

Meanwhile, South African exhibitors yesterday claimed that some of their exhibits were still stuck at Beitbrige border post.

Responding to inquiries from journalists on concerns raised by South Africans, outgoing ZITF general manager Denial Chigaru said they were not “100% sure” as to the cause of the delay.

“We are not 100% sure as to the cause of the delay,” he said.

“Our understanding is that cargo goods are flown and cleared in Harare as (the Joshua Mqabuko International Airport) does not clear cargo.

“We have what we call quick service at the border where goods are allowed to enter in bonds to be cleared here at the trade fair.

“However, we advised exhibitors to use clearing agents as that is much faster, but some are not doing so.”

Malawian President Joyce Banda will officially open the 54th edition of the ZITF this afternoon.

WAGES SAID TO BE ECONOMICALLY INSENSITIVE

Early this year, the Employers’ Confederation of Zimbabwe blasted arbitrators for awarding unsustainable wage increases that were not economically sensitive.

It said arbitrators seem to focus on social justice even at the expense of enterprise viability. The employers’ body urged arbitrators to realise that driving enterprises out of business was not going to benefit either the worker or the State.

It argued that Zimbabwe’s unique economic situation could not be resolved by applying standard arbitration techniques applicable in a normal environment.

Since the liberalisation of the economy in February 2009, economic recovery has been among other fundamentals hampered by liquidity challenges.

The introduction of a multi-currency system in 2009 meant that companies were starting from zero base in terms of their capitalisation levels.

Efforts to secure credit lines from local financiers or through offshore facilities by some individual companies have been futile, further worsening revival of operations.

Mr Moyo said ZCTU had expected that Government would expand frameworks such as the Distressed Industries and Marginalised Areas Fund (Dimaf) so that more companies qualify for resources under the facility.

“All the companies under judicial management did not qualify for Dimaf because of the strict conditions required to access the money.

“We expect the Ministry of Finance to set up a revolving fund with relaxed conditions so that the companies are bailed out or else the Ministry of Industry and Commerce sources funds locally or internationally so that firms would borrow at concessionary rates to reignite operations,” he said.

The manufacturing sector requires an estimated $2 billion to restore productivity at competitive levels.

Due to low capacity utilisation in the manufacturing sector, Zimbabwe is relying heavily on imported products to meet national demand.

Last year, the Confederation of Zimbabwe Industries in its manufacturing survey report said capacity utilisation was at 44,2 percent.

Following the liberalisation of the economy, Government targeted to increase capacity utilisation from an average of 10 percent to 60 percent.

WORKERS GONE FOR YEARS WITHOUT RECEIVING THEIR SALARIES

Workers have gone for years without receiving their salaries; for example NRZ, this is violation of human rights, there is need for change.

The Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions secretary-general, Mr Japhet Moyo, told Business Chronicle that some of the workers through their unions affiliated to the ZCTU have expressed concern that they have gone for years without receiving salaries.

He said the workers also alleged that some of their employers were being placed under judicial management for fake reasons.

“The workers are eager to continue with company litigations despite the implications the move will impact on the economy. We have received reports from some workers through our affiliates that there are some who have gone for between one and two years without receiving salaries.

They have resolved that the litigations should continue because non-payment of salaries is misconduct on part of the employer.

“When a company is faced with litigation it means it will be forced to sell its assets in order to settle outstanding salaries and this may lead to more job losses and company closures,” he said.

He said ZCTU wrote a circular to its affiliates seeking confirmation of issues affecting the workers.

Mr Moyo said non-payment of salaries by some employers and the issues of contract employment for a longer period are some of the grievances that the workers tabled.

The Labour Act stipulates that an employee should not be engaged as a contract worker for a period exceeding six months.

“We have received cases where some employers are said to have hired workers on contract for more than four years. And when the employment contract is not renewed or terminated, the worker does not get any benefits; he or she is only paid a salary for that month when the contract was terminated,” he said.

He said some of the disputes have been taken for arbitration with the workers receiving “significant” arbitrary awards.

“As unions we will continue pressing for the implementation of those awards despite the appeal by some employers,” said Mr Moyo.

The upgrading of Victoria Falls Airport – a grand project

Tourists coming to Victoria Falls have to go through intermediary routes to connect to the resort town because long haul planes tourist source markets cannot land at Victoria Falls. In recognition that Victoria falls is a strategic tourist destination, Government has taken a move to construct a longer runaway and bigger terminal buildings to allow wide bodied aircraft to bring in more tourists. 

Recently, the Vice President Joice Mjuru last Friday commissioned works to begin the upgrading of the Victoria Falls Airport with capacity to handle wide-bodied aircraft and up to 1,5 million visitors a year.  Nonetheless, prominent features of the constructition of a 4km runaway a new international terminal and upgraded domestic terminal building, a new fire station, new control tower and state of art aviation equipment.

The government recently contracted China Jiangsu international to carry out the US$150 million expansion with funds sourced from the Import and Export Bank of China. The expansion will allow direct flights to Victoria Falls and help upgrade the resort town into a tourism capital of the region. VP Mjuru said other key players like the Victoria Falls local authority should plan alongside the developments that they are not left out.

VP Mjuru quoted in Herald said, “The constructors should do a diligent job ……”. Of concern, how genuine are Chinese.