Staff Reporter

MASVINGO – A grade six pupil at Victoria Government Primary School will have to skip grade seven after he sat for the 2022 grade seven examinations and scored 9 units.

Noah Junior Marima, son to prominent businessman of the Junior Brand Noah Marima, scored straight ones in Maths, Shona, Social Sciences, Agricultural Sciences and Tech, 2 units in English then three units in Physical Education and Arts.

Marima (Senior) said he was proud of his son’s achievement and said he will support him in whatever he chose to be in life.

He said Junior was a very cool and determined boy who always strive for the best results saying he didn’t doubt him when he decided to sit for the exams.

“I am ecstatic about the results. Junior is a determined young man who always wants to achieve the best in whatever he does. We will support him in whatever way and studies he chooses,” said Marima.

Marima said Junior follows in his footsteps as he is also result oriented though he said his son wants to pursue Engineering studies at tertiary level.

“I am his inspiration as I am also result oriented and I have seen that he copies a lot from me. However, he may differ in that he wants to do engineering and we will support him as we have always been doing,” said Marima.

The school head Lameck Mashuro said he was thrilled by the results saying they show unity on the part of staff.

“The results are a result of team spirit on the part of our staff who have a ‘catch them young’ mentality. It’s also a reflection of hard work on by the pupils,” Mashuro

He said Junior had showed academic prowess saying the school wished him all the best.

“The learner proved to be a genius in academia. We wish he continues like that and we will be there to support him,” Marusho said.

…Swop deal involving parent ministry weighed in

TellZim reporter

At last Masvingo City Council seems to somehow have given in to demands by SIMBI Steel to have an additional 125 hectares (ha) of land on top of the 65 ha they already had albeit a swop deal involving Ministry of Local Government and Public Works.
Minutes of council’s public works and planning committee meeting held on November 24, 2022 confirmed the development saying council would be given plus/minus 400 ha of remaining Clipsham area land by their parent ministry.
“Consideration was given to the report of the Acting Director of Engineering Services on the offer of land by the Ministry of Local Government and Public Works, for a swop deal wherein the ministry would allocate ± 400 hectares of land in the remainder of Clipsham in exchange for 125 hectares allocated to SIMBI in Westview Industrial Area. The swop deal was approved by the committee.
“Resolved to recommend that the swop deal with the Ministry of Local Government and Public Works for the City of Masvingo to get ± 400 hectares in remainder of Clipsham, in exchange of 125 hectares provisionally allocated to SIMBI (Pvt) Limited in Westview Industrial area be granted,” read the minutes.
The proposed expansion by the steel making company raised eyebrows a few months ago and got residents and other stakeholders’ tongues wagging after the company requested Masvingo city to sell them vast tracts of land at a lower rate of US$ 0.40 instead of US$ 4.00 per square meter.
Residents were sceptical of such a deal as they felt something unusual was brewing behind the scenes with fingers pointing to alleged corruption on the part of council especially councillors.
Masvingo United Residents and Ratepayers Alliance (MURRA) director Anoziva Muguti clearly stated residents position that they were disapproving such a deal amid controversial circumstances engulfing its inception.
Muguti said though they welcome the developmental move, they would appreciate it if the company paid for the land at a commercial rate after reaching 70 percent utilization of the already acquired 65 ha.
Initially four councillors namely Alderman Selina Maridza (ward 1), Deputy Mayor Wellington Mahwende (ward 6), Against Chiteme (ward 8) and Sengerayi Manyanga (ward 10) were believed to have pushed the deal through though allegations of underhand dealings were suspected.
Back then, Mayor Collen Maboke insisted that council would not be swayed into undercharging the land saying the developers with interests should pay the set amounts other than negotiating downwards.

…default US$ 1 m payments over five years

Beatific Gumbwanda

CHIREDZI– Farmers, majority of whom are A2 who are the beneficiaries of the land reform programme and occupying more than 30 000 hectares of sugarcane plots currently owe Chiredzi Rural District Council (CRDC) close to US$ 1 million in outstanding rates spreading over the past five years.
The revelation was made when the local authority have unveiled its ZW$ 7 158 883 788 proposed 2023 budget.
Masvingo province’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is largely premised on sugarcane production.
Chiredzi Rural District Council (CRDC) recently held its 2023 Revenue and Expenditure estimates meeting where they highlighted that sugarcane farmers are derailing progress of the local authority with a whopping close to US$ 1 million credit.
CRDC Finance chairperson Alderman Munyengeri Murawu said they are owed US$ 1 047 40 by corporates, government departments, business community, stand owners, council schools, commercial sugarcane farmers, rate payers and safari operators, with sugarcane farmers constituting 90% of the outstanding debt.
“Mr Chairman Sir, may I highlight to you that council is owed US$ 1 047 402.48 by companies, government departments, council schools, business community, stand owners, sugarcane commercial farmers, rate payers and safari operators,” said Alderman Murawu.
CRDC Treasurer Misheck Kutumba later clarified that sugarcane farmers constitute 90percent of that debt.
“90percent of the highlighted figure is from sugarcane farmers which stretch over the past five years and we are making strides to recover it from them,” said Kutumba.
The majority of sugarcane farmers in Chiredzi are Zanu PF big wigs and party loyalists.
The local authority also adopted its 2023 budget of ZW$ 7 158 883 788 which according to Alderman Murawo will have 60percent of it being own revenue ($4 348 230 633.00) while 40percent being government fiscal transfers ($2 810 653 155.00), with the local authority bench marking its tariffs in United States dollars.
“During the 2023 financial year, we anticipate that council budget will be ZW$ 7 158 883 788.00 with some $4 348 230 633.00 being own revenue and $ 2 810 653 155.00 being government fiscal transfers. Mr Chairman Sir, because of the current developments in the macro-economic environment, your council has benchmarked its tariffs in the United States dollars with dual invoicing United States dollars and Zimbabwean dollars but payable in any currency,” said Alderman Murawu.
He also highlighted that the cash cows for the budget will be property taxes, tax on sale of goods and services, parks and wildlife, operating licenses and Estate funds while 26percent will be channelled towards employees and councillors’ allowances.
“The cash cows for our 2023 estimates will be property taxes contributing $2 165 431 500.00, Tax on sale of goods and services $2 211 331 500.00, Parks and wildlife $346 851 000.00, Operating Licenses $459 882 000.00 and Estate funds $1 064 241 000.00. Mr Chairman Sir, $1 142 845 254.00 will go towards employee compensation cost which is 26.28% inclusive of councillors’ allowances and calculated from own estimates and 15.24% calculated from the whole budget,” added Alderman Murawu.
CRDC’s budget, which is seven fold the 2022 one, will be skewed towards water and sanitation, road networking and housing developments which are the basic drivers of investment opportunities which is being done by providing basic primary public service infrastructure, shortening commutes, ensuring portable water and improving quality and sustainable livelihoods.

…Cholera outbreak fears grip Hobhouse, Mawonde

Branton Matondo

Residents from Mutare low and medium density suburbs have expressed concern over prolonged water rationing with some places going for weeks without the precious liquid amid fears of exposure to water borne diseases like cholera and typhoid.
Residents from Hobhouse low density suburb have gone for more than a fortnight while other areas within the suburb have gone for a month with dry taps.
Dangamvura area 7 has now assumed the name ‘The Desert Area 7’ where residents have become accustomed to bucket water after going for a month only for water to be availed briefly on November 27.
Mawonde residential area is equally in a crisis as residents are experiencing acute water shortages.
A resident from Hobhouse said it was now two months of struggling to access water as household taps have gone dry.
“For the past two months we continued to receive water charges/tariffs yet our taps are dry.
We fail to understand where the charges are coming from when there is no water to talk of. Water is a basic right; it’s there in the constitution. Friction between council and residents comes from such situations where city fathers do not own up to what is being paid for by residents,” said the resident.
As reports of cholera cases around the country made rounds recently, residents from Mawonde also worry the same unfortunate feat may befall them.
A resident from Mawonde who identified herself as Mary expressed fear over the situation.
“Our toilets are disgusting. Cholera is around the corner. It’s a worrisome situation. We call upon council to prioritize restoration of clean water supply before the matter gets out of hand,” said Mary.
Mutare City council through its communication desk addressed residents on November 25, 2022 of technical challenges at Odzani and Christmas Pass water works.
Council has also moved around residential areas with a bowser initiative to supply water to residents.
On November 27 however, the truck had to vacate the delivery point following a stampede from thirsty residents who had gone for more than a fortnight without water.
A resident from Hobhouse spoke of how tough the situation had become as there was a stampede with families squeezing and shoving for the precious liquid.
“When the bowser came to the delivery point, there were many people in the queue. The truck had to go back because of the pushing and shoving making it difficult for people to access the water,” said the resident.
Mutare City Council Town Clerk Blessing Chafesuka said he will consult the finance department on issues to do with water charges.
Mutare Residents and Ratepayers Association (MRRA) Programmes Director David Mutambirwa urged council to employ everlasting solutions to the challenges than engaging in short term ones.
“City of Mutare must desist from temporary repairs to the water bursts; this will not take the city anywhere, but should consider an integrated water management if they are to end the perennial, persistent and sporadic water bursts,” said Mutambirwa.
He added that there is need to prioritize total change of water infrastructure to evade these problems citing that city fathers should not rely on bowsers and boreholes for permanent water supply.
“The overhaul of the water infrastructure will bring a sustainable water supply to the city. The obsolete water pipes should be removed and replaced with durable once. Water bowsers and boreholes should be put in place for cases of emergency,” he added.
Issues surrounding water shortages and challenges dominated discussions during budget consultation meetings with residents across 19 wards of Mutare.

Zvikomborero Sibanda

Zimbabwe’s economy is marred by structural rigidities causing excessive pricing distortions and weak economic growth. Structural rigidity can be defined as a lasting feature caused by a set of institutions, which prevents a market from operating freely. These rigidities take various forms including institutional, money wages, product price, and production functions among others. In Zimbabwe, structural reforms are very unpopular, especially to those familiar with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) sponsored Economic Structural Reform Programme (ESAP) which started to be implemented around March 1991.
To reduce the size of the budget and promote private-sector-led economic growth, ESAP led to the devaluation of the local currency, a move that resulted in a massive loss of value as inflation raged havoc thus contributing to brain drain. It also resulted in the retrenchment of 25% of the civil service, withdrawal of critical government subsidies, commercialization and privatization of some state-owned enterprises, and introduction of user fees in education and healthcare sectors among others. These ESAP initiatives received backlash from the people as they were introduced at a time the government was expected to continue expanding the social sector to redress socioeconomic imbalances brought by colonization. By scaling down social services, the poor and marginalized communities were disproportionately affected. Other commentators point out that the programme increased the gender divide in the health, education, political, and business spheres.
The government further introduced painful austerity measures under the Transitional Stabilization Programme (TSP) (Oct 2018-Dec 2020). Monetary authorities implemented currency reforms culminating in the re-birth of the Zimbabwe dollar (ZWL) which was earlier abandoned in 2009 after a record 2008 hyperinflation. The official migration from a fixed ZWL exchange rate under the multicurrency to a floating regime in 2019 led to a massive loss of income and wealth. To date, the ZWL continues to lose value. This can be attributed to the fact that it was introduced in the context of weak macroeconomic fundamentals, flip-flopping monetary policymaking, and plummeting market confidence.
Furthermore, austerity led to the introduction of more regressive taxes like the now unpopular 2% tax (Intermediated Money Transfer Tax) which helped send market prices haywire when it was introduced during the third quarter of 2018. Price inflation which was recorded at 20.9% as of October 2018 mounted significantly to close 2019 at 521% before it reached a post-dollarization all-time high of 837.5% in July 2020. Consequently, poverty widened with current estimates showing that 70% of the population is wallowing in poverty and 40% are in abject poverty.
The foregoing affairs have increased the phobia of economic and structural reforms among economic agents’ particularly poor households who disproportionately bear the inflation tax, face dwindling real incomes, and delivery of poor and unaffordable social services ex-post. Nevertheless, the current social and economic environment is calling for increased political will to implement deep economic and structural reforms if Zimbabwe is to attain stable sustainable economic growth and equitable distribution of national wealth. These reforms will challenge obstacles to the fundamental drivers of growth by liberalizing labor, product, and service markets, thereby encouraging job creation and investment and improving productivity. If properly designed, these reforms are crucial in boosting an economy’s competitiveness, growth potential, and adjustment capacity.
It is worrisome to note that public institutions in Zimbabwe have been compromised by corruption. In development economics, institutions are viewed as rules of the game or more formally, as the humanly devised constraints that shape human interactions. In consequence, institutions structure incentives in human exchange, whether political, social, or economic. The prevailing weak institutions, for example, Zimbabwe Human Rights Commission (ZHRC) are failing to be the last line of defence and protector of human rights. From the monetary front, the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) is not transparent in its dealings and enjoys limited independence from fiscal authorities thus affecting the credibility of monetary policy. This explains why 4 years after being introduced, the market is not yet confident in the local currency.
There are also price rigidities in Zimbabwe, for example, in the agriculture sector where the price discovery processes are failing farmers, particularly the smallholder farmers who are forced to sell their produce at GMB’s undervalued prices. Given the cobweb phenomenon in agriculture, poor pricing is affecting real activity in the sector as some farmers are forced to exit the sector. There are also other sectors of the economy like ethanol and the fuel sector which are too concentrated. The lack of competition in such sectors is leading to overpricing of goods and services thereby affecting the poor majority.
Meanwhile, Treasury had announced the 2023 Executive National budget that has a spending ceiling of ZWL4.5 trillion (equivalent to US$5.6 billion at the going parallel market exchange rate of 800 ZWL/USD and US$6.9 billion using willing-buyer willing-seller (WBWS) interbank rate of 646 ZWL/USD). According to evaluations by ZIMCODD, a Harare-based social and economic justice think-tank, the proposed budget shows deep public policy politics and how wholesome populistic policies have undermined optimum resource distribution according to national challenges. For instance, the 2023 budget has allocated ZWL46 billion (1% of the total budget) to war veterans while social protection which positively affects the greater portion of the population particularly women and youth was awarded about ZWL50.4 billion (about 1.12% of the total proposed budget). It is ironic to note this when 3.8 million and 1.6 million rural people and their urban counterparts are facing food starvation. Again, 4.6 million children are reportedly living with severe acute malnutrition and 4.8 million children require school fees support under the state-funded Basic Education Module Assistance (BEAM). As such, noting these budget allocations, one can argue that the 2023 budget will be anti-poor unless Parliamentarians offer bold amendments -a rare feat given the whipping system being followed in Zimbabwe’s political systems.
Apart from the social sector, the budget leaves a lot to be desired economically. With prevailing chronic inflation, the Treasury is proposing to increase value-added tax (VAT) by 0.5 percentage points to 15% in 2023. Excise duty on energy drinks was also increased to US$0.10 from US$0.05. More so, the budget announced plans not to restore the suspension of import duty on basics which had expired in early November 2022. All this occurs amid local currency fragility and elevated global inflation risk. As such, aggregate consumer demand which is normally viewed by economists as the engine for stable economic growth will likely be subdued. In my view, the proposed budget is advancing an unsustainable expansionary fiscal policy stance ahead of the 2023 general election, at the expense of the pursuit of economic and structural reforms. Without these, price distortions in the market will continue unabated while the public debt remains in distress.
Therefore, the government should swiftly implement reforms to improve competition and market price discovery. The existing institutions require reconfiguration in terms of the quality of personnel, operational procedures, and methodologies. There is also a need to improve the quality of public taxation systems to encourage innovation and address the challenges of the poor population in the welfare state. More so, with reforms, fiscal authorities will be able to tighten public finance management systems to curb leakages from corruption and illicit transactions.

Zvikomborero Sibanda is an economic analyst and an astute researcher. He writes in his personal capacity. He can be contacted via email:

bravosibanda@gmail.com
Twitter: @bravon96