Moses Ziyambi

HARARE – The Zimbabwe Electoral Support Network (Zesn) has come up with a draft electoral integrity assessment instrument by which it hopes to contribute to the holding of credible elections in line with the African Charter and the Southern Africa Development Community (Sadc) guidelines on elections.
The election eye is a checklist of various electoral thematic issues against the African Charter and Sadc models while open data alludes to the manner by which election data ought to be administered to ensure the integrity of electoral processes.
Zesn director Rindai Chipfunde-Vava told participants of a high level training on Biometric Voter Registration (BVR) that there were many critical areas that authorities needed to address in the interests of a more democratic electoral process.
The training was organised by Trace in partnership with the International Foundation for Electoral Systems (Ifes).
Among other thematic areas, the Zesn election eye highlights the importance of an inclusive voter registration exercise with provisions that are favourable to the registration of eligible women and marginalised voters such as first time voters, the youth, people living with disabilities, rural voters as well as ethnic, linguistic and religious minorities.
Zesn also calls for election data to be timely made available, and to be permanently accessible in an analysable digital machine readable format and to be non-proprietary and licence-free so that it can be shared, used, reused and redistributed for any purpose.
“We believe that elections are for the public and therefore information should be given to the public for free but the challenge is that in most cases, the process is opaque leading to inadequate accountability mechanisms.
“The open data is a tool designed to ensure that the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (Zec) gives information freely basing on open data principles. One of the principles is that the information must be given timely, it must be frequently updated, for example, information on BVR. Many people do not know what it is, when it is happening and how it is happening,” Chirinda-Vava said.
Election data, she said can be described as open when it is available for free on the internet and when it is granular, meaning that data is available at the shortest possible intervals, for instance, when the electorate is given voter registration statistics on a daily basis.
Chirinda-Vava also said there must be a clear aggregation of data to eliminate guess work on such important issues as the total number of voters living with disabilities.
“Election data must be non-discriminatory and this is a problem when we look at the urban/rural divide in Zimbabwe. When perceived opposition sympathisers and civil society ask for the information, it is not given to them but when the ruling party asks for the same information, it is given to them without restrictions so we are saying open data must be made available to any individual or organisation without limitations based on his/her identity,” Chirinda-Vava said.local

HARARE – The Electoral Resource Centre (ERC) has launched the second edition of its electoral barometer to gauge the country’s state of preparedness ahead of the general elections that are expected to be held anytime next year, TellZim News has learnt.
Speaking at the close of a Biometric Voter Registration (BVR) workshop last week, ERC  director Tawanda Chimhini said the barometer was an indicator of four specific elements namely voter registration, voter education, access to the media and the nature of the political environment since the disputed 2013 elections.
“Using local and regional feedback, we have been making an assessment of the electoral process to see if there is progress being made and up to 18 sticking issues have been identified. We are primarily focusing on the pre-election phase of the election cycle and our view is that we are still below half with regards to what is expected.
“On the question of voter registration, we understand that the law says it should be a continuous process but we also know that it has not been conducted in a continuous manner. There are however things that have happened since the 2013 election regarding the voter registration process.
“The barometer tests some of the things that have happened against the principles of voter registration so we are questioning the integrity of the processes, their accessibility, credibility as well as their legality. So voter education and voter registration are some of the key elements we assess,” said Chimhini.
He revealed that the barometer also measures access to public media using international best practices as the benchmark but the results, he said, have so far been disappointing.
“We also do consider what has been happening in terms of the political environment ahead of the next elections and in light of the various by-elections that have happened.
“There is fear in communities; partisan distribution of resources relating to politics, freedom of expression is not as guaranteed as it should be and state institutions that should be regulating the conduct of political parties pertaining to the election process are not discharging their constitutional mandate in a manner that reflects a positive political environment ahead of the elections.
“Our fear is that in terms of preparedness for elections, we are falling far short; we are in fact below the average. The expectation is therefore that this barometer will be an instrument that we can collectively use to begin engaging responsible authorities and say we are holding you accountable; you can’t say we are holding elections if you have not started looking at these things.
“The barometer is an instrument that we hope stakeholders will find useful and use in their engagement efforts to ensure that we improve the quality of our election processes ahead of the 2018 elections. Our argument is that there is no room for us to even accept any recommendation for an early election in Zimbabwe,” Chimhini said.local

MASVINGO – A local chapter of Lion’s Club, a humanitarian organisation with an international reach, was launched at Chevron Hotel last week.
The guest of honour at the launch was David Saunyama who is the first vice governor of district 412 (D412) which comprises four countries namely Zimbabwe, Botswana, Malawi and Mozambique.
The district also has a total of 153 clubs with 30 of them in Zimbabwe.
Saunyama told TellZim News that the organisation’s presence in Masvingo put it in a better position to make a difference locally.
“The launch of the club here in Masvingo means we will be able to help at any time when we have resources. When we donate to the needy, we need to have our club members to do the handover so if an area has no members, it is difficult to stretch our hands,” said Saunyama.
During the launch, Solarax Pvt Ltd donated foodstuffs and other goods to Mucheke Old People’s Home, Ndarama High School and Pioneer Cottages children’s shelter while Chiedza Muchandiona, a member of the club, donated to Alpha cottages and Pioneer Cottages.
The Lion’s Club is a non-governmental voluntary organisation which helps the underprivileged and victims of disasters through fundraising work and partnerships with the corporate world.
The organisation provides grants, food and health care among other basic social needs.
It is headquartered in Chicago, America, and has 1.4 million members with 420 thousand clubs around the world.
Its junior club for young people below the age of 30 is called the Leo Club.
Great Zimbabwe University (GZU) has two Leo Clubs; one at the main campus and the other at Mashava campus.education,local

Cephas Shava

MWENEZI – The Mwenezi Rural District Council (RDC) is set to repossess more than 1000 stands in various places of the district because prospective developers have failed to pay the lease application fees within the expected timeframe, TellZim News has learnt.
The RDC has issued a public notice for the third time to prospective developers at Neshuro, Lundi and Rutenga growth points where more than 900 stands that have not been paid for are set to be reclaimed in the event that the owners do not respond within two weeks.
Mwenezi RDC acting Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Albert Chivanga confirmed the development and said the local authority has been left with no other option except to withdraw offer letters for all unpaid stands.
“The stands that are set to be affected are 1000 plus. Some of these stands were given to individuals and groups before the full payment of the stands. We have been warning these prospective developers and this is the third and final warning.
“In the event that the prospective developers fail to respond within two weeks, the council is definitely going to reclaim the stands,” said Chivanga.
The operation is set to affect individuals, groups and many civil servants especially teachers who were part of housing schemes like Shine Plus which is said to have more than 200 stands at Rutenga growth point that are set to be reclaimed.local

TellZim Reporter

MASVINGO – Great Zimbabwe University (GZU) will on Friday, September 15, 2017 host its inaugural Fundraising Dinner Dance at Great Zimbabwe Hotel where Vice President Emmerson Mnangagwa will be the guest of honour.
Chairperson of the GZU fundraising committee Dr Andrew Chindanya said that after four years of massive growth and expansion GZU was now in a position to make major developmental strides.
He said the new phase of GZU’s growth and expansion will be achieved through a stakeholder-driven resource mobilisation initiative. 
“The stakeholder-driven resource mobilisation programmes are expected to develop the University at an unprecedented rate and in a short period of time. The goal of the stakeholder-driven fundraising initiatives is to raise funds to provide support for capital projects, infrastructure, and academic priorities at the university.
“The first of these initiatives is the hosting of a fundraising dinner dance by the University on September 15, 2017 at the Great Zimbabwe Hotel in Masvingo where the University’s employees, students, Alumni and other stakeholders are being called upon to share a passion for the extraordinary university and the great journey it is embarking upon,” said Dr Chindanya.
“While we have achieved a lot since 2012, there is much more to do as we march towards building a state-of-the-art Main Campus at our natural home adjacent to the Great Zimbabwe National Monuments.
“We believe partnerships with our valued partners on such occasions and in such capital projects will firmly establish Great Zimbabwe University among world-class universities,” said Dr Chindanya.
Since 2012, GZU has transformed and developed itself into a reputable and robust institution of higher learning in the country, region and internationally through the ingenuity and remarkable judgement of its University Council and Management. 
With little resources at its disposal, the university has been transformed from a single facility institution into a magnificent and vibrant multi-campus institution in just over four years.local

MWENEZI – Headman Chitanga, born Lawrence Chitanga, is in trouble after he allegedly bashed a frail 92-year-old woman who had reportedly promised to bewitch his daughter who later passed on under mysterious circumstances.
The elderly Zvirikure Ruwisai of Chidzanira village under Chief Chitanga dragged the headman to the Mwenezi Civil Court seeking a protection order.
She told the court that at one point in time she was bashed by Chitanga after he accused her of witchcraft.
“He regularly beats me. He always scolds me, alleging that besides bewitching my own child, I also bewitched his late daughter,” Ruwisai told the court.
On his part, Chitanga denied assaulting Ruwisai but admitted making some statements to the effect that Ruwisai practiced witchcraft.
“There is no way in which I can assault such an elderly woman like Ruwisai. Her allegations are baseless. As for the issue to do with witchcraft, I told her point blank. Before the death of my daughter, Ruwisai told her that she will grow underground.
“Literally in our customs such suggestions imply witchcraft. What she had promised my daughter came to pass because she died after Ruwisai had uttered those statements,” said Chitanga.
Magistrate Honest Musiiwa granted Ruwisai the protection order and strongly warned Chitanga to desist from such behaviour or risk the full wrath of the law.
Musiiwa also advised Ruwisai that if she was interested, she could immediately file a police report against Chitanga for labelling her a witch.local

ZAKA – A Zimbabwe Republic Police sergeant, Amos Mandiwadzira recently ran amok and assaulted fellow police officers after being caught having sex with a junior police officer’s wife.
Mandiwanzira (42) was brought before Masvingo magistrate Peter Madhibha for allegedly assaulting Constable Liberty Kashiri who had accompanied Constable Brian Chikono to his house where they found Madhibha in bed with Chikono’s wife.
Chikono is married to Madeline Makonese who had a secret affair with Mandiwanzira. The affair became known in the neighborhood and one of the neighbours tipped Chikono at a local bar where he was watching soccer.
Accompanied by 12 other police officers, Chikono went home and stormed into the room where Mandiwanzira was in bed with his wife.
“When we got to the house, we peeped through some cracks on the door and saw the two lying naked on the bed and my baby was sleeping on the floor. We forced the door open and there was a scuffle as Mandiwanza attempted to run away
“He even assaulted Constable Liberty Kashiri with a fist and Makonese smashed the bulb in the house so that Mandiwanza could escape but we managed to apprehend him,” said Chikono.
Mandiwanzira was apprehended and later on appeared before the court but the case was postponed to a later date for continuation of trial with Makaita Chikamhi representing the State.local