…pledges to work for friendlier media environment ahead of 2018

Upenyu Chaota

HARARE – He fought a good fight, kept the faith, finished the race and most people in the media industry are happy with the election of TellZim News publisher and Great Zimbabwe University (GZU) media lecturer Golden Maunganidze to the position of new Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA) Zimbabwe Chapter national chairperson.
Maunganidze surprised even the most cynical of those who gathered at Cresta Jameson Hotel in Harare for the elective congress after he landed the post uncontested following the eleventh hour withdrawal of his formidable rival Dumisani Muleya, The Zimbabwe Independent editor.
Delivering his victory speech, Maunganidze called for collective input to keep the MISA ship afloat.
“During my term, the country will hold elections so it is one of our mandates to help each other as we promote access to information during elections. We will work to protect each other since journalists are often victimised during elections. We will also work to protect each other when we express our views as media practitioners,” said Maunganidze.
He said he will give an ear to all the MISA members and will work in consultation with others to create a conducive media environment in the country.
“I plead with you to work with us to take MISA to the level that you want it to be so that by the next time we gather here or any other place, MISA will mirror exactly what you want it to be.
“We are going to accommodate your views and when we derail please don’t hesitate to take us to the side and remind us what we are supposed to be doing. Please remind us when we divert from our mandate,” said Maunganidze.
Maunganidze is deputised by Rutendo Mawere who garnered several votes more than her closest electoral rival. Pamenus Tuso, Maggie Muzamara and Ruth Butaumocho were elected into the committee.top news

… Masvingo Urban Ward 7 now in BVR system

DARWENDALE – The Zimbabwe Election Commission (ZEC) said it will embark on a Biometric Voter Registration (BVR) blitz for 16 continuous days including on weekends in every ward across the country amid reports that long winding queues are a common feature at the few available centres.
The campaign, which is expected to start on October 15, 2017, will see many people being registered as voters.
Addressing journalists at a media training workshop in Darwendale early this week, ZEC Acting Director Voter Registration, Collins Munetsi said there will soon be no need for people to stand in long queues at the few currently available registration centres once the electoral body embarks on the 16-day campaign.
“We have opened few registration centres across the country at the moment but there is no need for people to stand in long queues waiting to register because very soon, we will come to their door steps. We will embark on a 16-day blitz, including weekends, where our teams will be in every ward registering people to vote,” said Munetsi.
He said after the 16 days, the already existing registration centres, which are mainly at District Administrator (DA) offices countrywide, will continue to operate until the January 15, 2018 deadline.
Munetsi said people should not worry over the presence of police during the blitz as the officers will only be there to maintain order.
Meanwhile, the Masvingo Urban Ward 7 which was missing from the BVR system has since been included, a ZEC official confirmed.
“The Ward was omitted during compiling but the problem has since been rectified; prospective voters from Ward 7 can now go and register,” he said.
ZEC board vice chairperson Emmanuel Magade also gave assurance that everything they do will be transparent saying the media should act as watchdog on their operations.
“We urge you to sleep with one eye open because we have nothing to hide from you. Everything that we do is transparent; criticise us when we fail but also applaud us when we do well,” said Magade.top news

Upenyu Chaota

Masvingo – The battle between President Robert Mugabe and Zanu PF supporters in Masvingo province, mainly Team Lacoste faction which supports Vice President Emmerson Mnangagwa to take over from the nonagenarian, is far from over as the province remained defiant and recently demoted members linked to Generation 40 (G40) faction, which supports the veteran leader, to inferior provincial executive positions over the weekend.
Barely a month after  Mugabe called Masvingo and Midlands to order and pleaded for peace and unity in the party, the Lacoste-dominated Masvingo province has defied him once again by demoting (reassigning to less influential positions) members of a rival faction during a Provincial Executive Committee (PEC) meeting held at Victoria Primary School recently.
Zanu PF national political commissar Saviour Kasukuwere, who is said to be one of the G40 leaders, rubbished the reshuffle saying that is not the party’s official position. Kasukuwere said members will continue to occupy their provincial executive positions and ignore the reshuffle.
“Whatever they did is not official. For something to become official it has to follow proper party channels.  I have not received anything official to that effect and that means everything is hoax. Members should continue occupying the positions and ignore the reshuffle claims,” said Kasukuwere.
The PEC meeting, which was chaired by party provincial chairperson Ezra Chadzamira, saw Amasa Nhenjana, a suspected G40 loyalist who was vice chairperson, being demoted to secretary for security while Ailes Baloyi was elevated in his stead. Baloyi is believed to be a Lacoste loyalist.
Vocal youth provincial commissar and Team Lacoste sympathiser, Brian Munyoro was promoted to provincial secretary for administration while Mutero Masanganise and Gutu North legislator Ticharwa Madondo were removed from their influential positions.
Nhenjana said he was shocked by the way Team Lacoste was running the show and reassigning members “for no apparent reason.”
“If anyone ever doubted that there is a faction in Masvingo think again. Lacoste has shown that they are working against the party’s principles. Vanhu vakauya mumusangano late vanonetsa because havazivi kuti musangano unofamba sei (these people who joined the party recently are problematic). They will get a rude awakening very soon.
“Munhu anofanira kutadza basa kuti anzi abviswe not zvatiri kuitirwa nana Chadzamira izvi (One should be dismissed on the basis of incompetence and not what Chadzamira and company are doing. I asked him why they reassigned me and he could not give an answer,” fumed Nhenjana.
He said when he confronted Chadzamira to seek clarification over the demotion, he was told that he was never recognised as vice chairperson.
“He said I was never vice chair. If that was the case how come I was appointed acting provincial chair before we had an election for the chair? These people are up to no good and they will soon come to a harsh reality that Zanu PF is not some personal tuckshop which they can manage as they please.
Efforts to get comment from Chadzamira were fruitless by the time of going to press as his mobile phone went unanswered.
Munyoro, however, justified the reshuffled and said everything was done according to the Zanu PF party constitution.
“Our executive does not subscribe to any faction but instead we subscribe to the rules and regulations of the party as enshrined in our Zanu PF party constitution. It is unfortunate that some of our colleagues don’t read the party’s constitution,” said Munyoro
Masvingo Urban Member of Parliament and politburo member Daniel Shumba, who is suspected to have G40 sympathies, said there was nothing constitutional about the reshuffle.
“Izvo zvavakaita is not constitutional. It is just a circus. It will be dealt with in due course. It is unprecedented and very divisive. Instead of uniting people they are pushing factional agendas.
“They should not hide behind the party constitution when in actual fact they have no clear understanding of the guiding principles,” said Shumba.politics, top news