Farai Dziva| Barely 48 hours after the death of ZBC diplomatic correspondent Judith Makwanya, another journalist from the state broadcaster, Desmond Duri has died.

According to a statement read on ZBC the former Masvingo Bureau Chief died in the capital today after a short illness.

“We can confirm that ZBC News reporter Desmond Duri has died.We are yet to get full details of the cause of his death,” reported the state broadcaster.

MDC President Nelson Chamisa has today met with the Australian ambassador to Zimbabwe Bronte Moules to discuss various issues of mutual interest.

Tweeting soon after the meeting, Chamisa could only say the future is bright.

Health and Child Care Minister Dr Obadiah Moyo has denied reports that doctors went on strike yesterday telling the media during a cabinet briefing that they were advising him on some issues they were not happy about.

Yesterday, doctors reportedly went on strike complaining that they did not have resources to use in their work including bandages which they said patients were having to recycle due to shortages.

But Obadiah Moyo flatly denied it was a strike.

Below is a the letter doctors wrote to the minister announcing their industrial action;

To: The Group CEO
Parirenyatwa Group of Hospitals

Re: Service provision at Parirenyatwa Group of Hospitals
Dear Sir
Background of problems
As you are aware Parirenyatwa Group of Hospitals has been facing challenges since November 2018 with a prolonged industrial action. One of the major grievances which culminated into the industrial action was the persistent shortage of basic essential drugs, equipment and sundries. As consultants who were and are concerned with return to normalcy, we stepped in and persuaded the junior doctors to return to work in good faith that our parent ministry would improve the supply of the basic consumables. However, the situation with regards to medical consumables and equipment is now even worse than it was in December 2018. This has continued to cause severe compromise in the safety and working conditions of staff and a reduced capacity to deliver services to patients. We feel that these compounding factors have compromised patient care, putting patients’ health and lives at risk at the very institution which is supposed to restore health and life.

Current service provision
Since the beginning of the year we have been unable to resume normal service, especially in the areas of anaesthesia, surgery and critical care due to the above-mentioned constraints. We have tried to make adjustments to no avail. Currently most surgical firms are only operating on elective patients twice a month. Statistics show that for January and February this year, we have operated less than 20% of the elective cases that we were doing in same period in 2018. For emergencies, the time taken before the patient goes to theatre is now unnecessarily to long as their relatives have to privately source for the necessary supplies. Furthermore, patients with simple conditions like appendicitis and diabetic foot ulcers are going for days without the required antibiotics leading to unnecessary complications. This is just one simple example of the dire conditions patients are currently facing.

Way forward
As the consultants of Parirenyatwa Group of Hospitals, we have decided to rationalize use of the limited and very finite resources that are currently available. We are now forced with immediate effect to further scale down the services which we are offering, to deal with dire emergencies only until the situation normalizes.
The currently available resources might not be able to sustain the emergency service provision beyond the end of the month.

We thank you and the clinical director for giving us some insight into your efforts to address the issues at hand. As consultants, our hearts bleed because of what is prevailing and feels that if we continue pretending we can offer full services we would be complicit in the deaths of our patients. In this vein we have urgently sort for audience with the Honourable Minister of Health and hope he will put efforts to address these grave concerns.

Thank you

Consultants of Parirenyatwa Group of Hospitals

By Own Correspondent- Justice minister Ziyambi Ziyambi has said that the arrest of a suspect only acts as a way of ensuring that they attend trial and it should not be used as a method to investigate a crime.

Ziyambi said this Thursday during a question without notice session at parliament.

He said:

“Arrest is a method of securing the attendance of somebody at trial and it is not supposed to be used as a method to investigate. When somebody is being arrested, there must be reasonable suspicion that an offence has been committed and they are ready for trial. That is one of the methods that are used to secure the attendance of that particular person at trial.”

By Own Correspondent- Deputy minister of Labour and Social Welfare Lovemore Matuke told parliament that President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s administration is yet to review upwards the monthly allowance given to the elderly in Zimbabwe revealing that they are currently getting $25 RTGs bond.

He said this while responding to a question from Zanu-PF Nkayi South Member of Parliament Stars Mathe.

Said Matuke:

“In our Constitution, there is a clause which states that elderly people and young children are the burden of Government.  Government has put in place mechanisms to support such people.  For school going ages, there is BEAM which caters for them.  In our Constituencies we have our structures which recommend for support of the elderly and young ones who are in need. Government is responsible for that burden.  They can even get cash per month and also food aid is supposed to be given to those people.

I urge Members of Parliament in your constituencies to assist Government to identify such people so that they get assistance from Government.  Social Welfare officers will come to your areas to verify the existence of such people and then they get help.  I thank you.

It is the duty of the Government to take care of the elderly.  However, we have economic and financial problems at the moment.  Our funding might not be sufficient like other countries that you have mentioned but in accordance to what we have as a country, the Government is supposed to help the elderly with money.  At the moment they were being given $25 per month.  However it has been noted that the money is too little, it cannot buy anything.  The money is going to be increased so that it can buy something in order to take care of our elderly and young ones as stipulated in our Constitution.”

VIDEO LOADING BELOW….

Farai Dziva|One of the founder members of the Movement for Democratic Change Lawson Mapfaira popularly known as Dhara Rada has died.

Mapfaira died in Chivi in the early hours of today.

“When you talk of people who contributed to the launch of the party in Masvingo Province you will not miss his name.In 2000 Dhara Rada was one of the members who led the Recruitment Committee.

Mapfaira was a fearless and dedicated leader.Rest in peace Dhara Rada Lawson Mapfaira.

In 2000 he was at Chitungwiza Aquatic Centre at the party’s first Congress of the MDC,” said MDC A official Jeffryson Chitando.

“…I said it will be rough, but it’s gonna be rougher but thereafter we will have a ZW we all want. This monopoly and idiocy shall be challenged. With or without,2023 is coming.Tatamba zvakwana!…”

Farai Dziva| PSL Champions FC Platinum will be without the influential midfielder Kelvin Madzongwe in their last Total African Champions League group match against North African Giants Esperance Sportive De Tunis at Babourfields Stadium in Bulawayo on Saturday.

Madzongwe, the only infield player to have played the entire 90 minutes of all their matches since the start of the campaign, is serving suspension together with Gift Bello and Elvis Moyo who was red-carded in the last match against Orlando Pirates.

Pure Platinum Play anchor the group standings with just two points, which they managed in the home and away draws against Orlando Pirates. The only positive for the team going into the Esperance match is that they managed to break the scoring jinx, and scored two goals away to Pirates.

Meanwhile, the visiting North African team arrived in the country on Friday morning.

Farai Dziva|Warriors Skipper Knowledge Musona has suffered an injury scare ahead of the decisive Afcon Qualifier against Congo Brazaville on March 24.

According to The Herald, the Warriors captain picked a knock that could keep him out of action for a couple of days. His Belgian club Lokeren has since advised Zifa of the latest developments.

“We heard from the team that he got a knock on the ankle muscle, but it’s too early to decide anything,” team manager Wellington Mpandare said.

“I am yet to see the report, but I am sure it’s not very serious because they are also going to assess him further on Friday (today) ahead of the weekend games.”

Club Brugge midfielder Marvelous Nakamba has already been ruled out of the AFCON qualifier after sustaining a hip injury during a league match last weekend.

By Own Correspondent| MDC Secretary for Health and Child Welfare Dr Henry Madzorera has expressed solidarity with striking doctors calling on government to invest in the country’s health delivery system.

He said in a statement:

The health care delivery crisis in Zimbabwe has reached alarming proportions.

As the MDC, we express solidarity with the troubled medical practitioners and the needlessly suffering and dying patients of Zimbabwe.

While our leaders are jetting out daily to receive state of the art health care abroad, ordinary Zimbabweans are dying of easily curable conditions like appendicitis and diabetes in our hospitals for lack of basic medicines and consumables.

Our highly trained health workers are spending their time worrying, working dangerously without equipment, and helplessly overseeing the death of their valued patients without the wherewithal to assist them.

Infinitely more lives are being lost, or permanently disabled (cerebral palsy, etc).

This is the scale of catastrophe confronting us, and it’s completely preventable.

It seems this government sold us a dummy when they showed us tonnes of containers purportedly full of medicines and consumables end of 2018.

Now we know that was a hoax, because the medicines and consumables situation is worse now than it ever was.

The People’s party of Excellence calls upon this military government to take the lives of Zimbabweans seriously and prioritise health care.

The buck stops with the so called president of the nation.

Zimbabwe can’t be open for business if curable disease is decimating the workforce.

Financing health care must therefore be priority number one on the government’s agenda.

Here is some free advice to this failed government: The 2% transaction tax that government is collecting must go to healthcare in total. In addition, portions of other existing taxes like toll gate fees, carbon tax, vehicle license fees, tax on tobacco alcohol, etc, must immediately be channeled to healthcare.

This will immediately take care of this serious headache and the nation can begin to look at other areas of development.

The call for dialogue has already been made, and this crisis magnifies the urgency of dialogue to resolve national issues.

Apart from taking good care of our citizens, Zimbabwe has the potential to be a regional centre of excellence in healthcare.

This requires serious political will, commitment, and a SMART vision.

A healthy nation is a productive nation.

MDC: Defining a New Course for Zimbabwe.

Dr Henry Madzorera
MDC Secretary for Health and Child Welfare

Farai Dziva|A Masvingo based NGO Community Tolerance Reconciliation and Development has filed an urgent court application challenging its suspension by Emmerson Mnangagwa.

Mnangagwa suspended the operations of the NGO on Monday. Government officials in Masvingo accuse the NGO of funding acts of hooliganism.

Impeccable sources have pointed out that Mnangagwa ordered Masvingo State Minister Ezra Chadzamira to deal with perceived Zanu PF opponents in the area.

“On behalf of Community Tolerance and Development (COTRAD), Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights has filed an urgent chamber application at High Court challenging government’s decision to suspend the non-governmental organisation’s operations and for it to to be allowed to resume full operations in Masvingo Province without any interference.

Government had on Monday 11 March 2019 ordered COTRAD to cease operations pending some so-called investigations into the organisation’s registration status,” Zimbabwe Lawyers For Human Rights said in a statement.

By Patrick Guramatunhu- The trouble with Zanu PF apologists like you Hopewell Chinono is that they are incapable of thinking logically.

“Ultimately the responsibility for health care in Zimbabwe lies with the State, but until the State has fully grasped that reality, we can do what is within our means because the people who are dying are our kith and kin,” you say.

“It is shameful for the rest of the world to watch our health delivery system become a death trap whilst we claim to be an educated nation. 

“In the event that we don’t get a buy in from government, we can come up with other plans that can help save lives. 

“After talking to doctors working at the four major hospitals, it was clear to me that the doctors do not trust the health authorities either, so the best thing will be to get a logistics company to do this for free.”

1. Zimbabwe’s health service did not collapse in the last week or month but has been in decline these last 38 years. If it is the state’s responsibility to provide health care, as you readily admit, and the said state has failed to “fully grasp that reality” in the last 38 years; what makes you believe they will ever do so? 

1. It is the donor community that has carried the burden of Zimbabwe’s health, education, food air and many other areas which would have totally collapse a long time ago. The tragic reality is that the more the outsiders helped the more the Zanu PF government neglected its duty and responsibility. It is a matter of record that the donors sourced and pay for up to 80% of Zimbabwe’s medicine is some areas. Even with the best will in the world there is a limit to what the donors can do especially when the Zimbabwe government authorities are known to seek health care outside the country and waste vast fortunes of luxuries.

1. The suggestion that individual Zimbabweans can take-up the challenge of sourcing and paying for all the nation medical needs is laughable. With unemployment in the country a nauseating 90%, Zimbabweans in the country are in no position to pay for the medicine. And Zimbabweans is the diaspora are already doing their best to keep the nation ticking and will not be able do much more. But even if the people can be mobilised to make the sacrifice, this can only be a short term solution. We need a cure and not just another painkiller!

1. Zimbabwe is in a serious mess with 90% out of work, 3/4 of the population living on US$30 or less a month, with health care and other basic services all but collapse, etc. We know the root cause of the country’s economic problems is the 38 years of corrupt and tyrannical rule by Zanu PF. We know Mnangagwa and his Zanu PF junta rigged last year’s elections to extend their misrule. We can continue to bury our heads in the sand and pretend we do not know about the corrupt and tyrannical misrule but must know it is insane especially when the price for our insanity is now human lives.

The idea that the people of Zimbabwe should find other means to finance public services which should otherwise be provided by government through their tax payments is absurd. So why are we paying the tax for?

We have this Zanu PF government that has failed to provide the basic services such as health care and education because it is corrupt and incompetent. It has remained in power regardless of its pathetic performance record only because the party has rigged elections to stay in power. The solution is not for the people to dig deeper into their pockets to fund basic services; this is not sustainable as we can. The solution is to get a competent government.

Zanu PF blatantly rigged last July’s elections and therefore has no mandate to govern. The party must step down to create the political space to allow the implementation of reforms, followed by the holding of free and fair elections. The Zanu PF dictatorship is the elephant in the room, we have pretended not to know it for 38 years, and have paid dearly for our folly. This must now stop.

Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Right (ZLHR) on Thursday 14 March 2019
filed an urgent chamber application in the High Court challenging
government’s decision to suspend the operations of Community Tolerance
Reconciliation and Development Trust (COTRAD), a local
non-governmental organisation (NGO).

Government through Masvingo District Administrator (DA) on Monday 11
March 2019 ordered COTRAD to cease operations pending investigation on
its registration.

In a letter written to COTRAD, Masvingo District Administrator
instructed COTRAD not to carry out any activities “of any kind” in the
jurisdiction of Masvingo district pending investigation on the registration and approval issues of the organisation by the DA’s office.

This prompted COTRAD, to engage Denford Halimani of Zimbabwe Lawyers
for Human Rights (ZLHR) to file an urgent chamber application in the High Court challenging the DA’s decision to outlaw the NGO’s operations and seeking an order to be allowed to resume full operations in Masvingo without any interference.

In the application, Halimani argued that the District Administrator is not empowered by any law to suspend or stop COTRAD’s operations as it is not registered as a Private Voluntary Organistaion but as a Trust, created by a Notarial Deed of Donation and Trust, which is registered at the Deeds Registry.

Halimani argued that the order compelling COTRAD, which has been operating in Masvingo province for the past six years, to cease operations had left 5 000 underprivileged people prejudiced and without recourse including the organisation’s eight employees.

COTRAD wants the High Court to reverse the Masvingo District
Administrator’s directive to suspend its operations including to be allowed to resume full operations in Masvingo without any interference and for the decision to be declared null and void and of no force and effect.

ZANU PF President Emmerson Mnangagwa on Saturday afternoon issued his first ever statement on the devastation caused by Cyclone Idai.

Mnangagwa who is currently away in Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates, published the below on his Twitter account: “My thoughts & prayers are with all those affected by Cyclone Idai. Rescue operations are underway & we are grateful for the bravery of the men & women of the Zimbabwean armed forces who, along with our local & international partners, are participating in the urgent rescue efforts.”

Amid several more reported missing with some having been swept away by the floods, at 5pm (Zim time) at least 31 people were reported dead from the effects of the cyclone.

At 5p, ZimEye was made to understand that the army has been deployed for assistance. This was according to the MP for Chimanimani, Jsohua Sacco. But at the time of writing several sources interviewed by ZimEye revealed that there was no military presence in their areas. One source said this was likely due to low clouds and strong winds impeding helicopter traffic.

Efforts to get comment from the authorities were underway.

ZimEye is on Saturday evening interviewing sources currently sheltered near Chimanimani Secondary School. (WATCH THE PROGRAM ON ZIMEYE.COM)

Several bridges were viciously washed away in Chimanimani and Chipinge.

As Mnangagwa is away in the UAE, the acting president is Vice President Constantino Chiwenga.

Below is an emergency assistance update following cyclone Idai:

Human Rights Lawyer, Doug Coltart tweeted announcing the Harare drop off points:

If you would like to support the relief efforts in support of the people affected by Cyclone Idai, please deliver the items needed before end of day Tuesday to the drop off points listed. #HarareHelps will be sending a truck with supplies on Wednesday morning. Phone: 0779163400

Bulawayo:

45 Moffat Ave Hillside (Along Burnside road) Or call 0773 103 262 we will come and pick your donation.

Harare
Miracle Missions: Highlands Presbyterian Church. 112 Enterprise Road, Highlands

Eat Out Movement: 3 Allan Wilson Avenue. Greater Avenues
ONEchurch: 15 De noon Road, Avondale