TAN – The Afro News

Zimbabwe's Defunct Railway Sector

By Wallace Mawire: CPCS Transcom, an international infrastructure development firm specializing in private sector participation in transport,power and urban sectors has conducted consultancy into the future and funding of the Zimbabwe railway sector to come up with sustainable solutions to revitalize its operations. Read the full story

ZELA Executive Director Mutuso Dhliwayo at the launch Photo by Wallace Mawire

Zimbabwe has launched the Publish

What You Pay (PWYP) campaign local chapter as part of the global network of CSOs united in their call for extractive industry revenues

to form the basis for development and improve the lives of ordinary citizens in resource-rich countries.

The launch has been made by the Zimbabwe Environmental Law Association (ZELA) who have been advocating for reforms in Zimbabwe’s

extractive sector since 2009.

Mutuso Dhliwayo, Executive Director of ZELA says the reforms pertain to the need for improved transparency and accountability in revenue

generated from mineral production,granting of mineral claims,engagement with mining communities,environmental management at mining sites,corporate social responsibility including mining contracting and licensing.

“The need for reform arises from the fact that there is very limited transparency and accountability in the mining sector.There is pervasive secrecy and opaqueness which results in very limited public knowledge of the benefits being derived from mineral production,” says Dhliwayo.

lt is also reported that the absence of transparency and accountability is not a problem unique to Zimbabwe as it affects the whole of Africa.

“Despite billions of dollars of incoming revenues from oil,gas and mining extraction, Africa has remained steeped in poverty lending to

what has been termed the natural resources curse or resource paradox,” ZELA says.

ZELA adds that there is a high level of obscurity in the flow of mineral revenues in Zimbabwe.lt says that this is clearly illustrated in the diamond mining sector, particularly operations at Chiadzwa, in the Manicaland province.

The organization reports that there is confusion as to the whereabouts of over $300 million generated from mining operations in

the Chiadzwa diamond fields.The minister of finance is reported to be on record stating that diamond revenues have not been handled

transparently.

The minister in his 2011 national budget presentation highlighted cases of mining companies evading tax.

“The opaqueness extends beyond the mineral revenues.There is also very limited knowledge of diamond mining contracts as illustrated through the irregular licensing of Canadile (Pvt) Ltd to mine diamonds at Chiadzwa,” ZELA says.

lt adds that the licence was eventually cancelled after it emerged that the company had misrepresented its capacity to mine diamonds and in effect prejudiced government of millions of dollars.

As part of its campaign to promote reforms in Zimbabwe’s extractive sector, ZELA in collaboration with the Southern Africa Resources Watch

(SARW) and the Revenue Watch Institute (RWI) has organized awareness meetings on issues besetting the extractive sector in Zimbabwe.This

has been done under the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI).

The PWYP campaign is a global network of over 600 member organizations in more than 30 countries that are united in their call for extractive sector revenues to form the basis for development and improve the lives of ordinary citizens in resource-rich countries.

PWYP undertakes public campaigns and policy advocacy to achieve disclosure of information about extractive industry revenues and contracts.

The next initiatives of the Zimbabwe PWYP campaign will include ZELA and other founding partners mobilizing membership to include a broad cross section of civil society organisations with an interest in the extractive sector, launching the chapter and generating publicity on the campaign and extractive sector issues,developing the founding documents which include memorandum of understanding,vision and key focus areas and also developing an advocacy or campaign strategy or work plan for the chapter.

PWYP calls for the disclosure of payments by extractive companies to the government of each country in which they operate,revenues earned

by governments from the oil,gas and mining sectors, licencing arrangements and extractive industry contracts and other information

critical to monitoring the deals made between extractive companies and governments.

Itai Zimunya, Open Society Initiative for Southern Africa (OSISA) Zimbabwe Programme Manager said at the launch the initiative is an economic justice necessity for thousands living in poverty.He added that this will help to eradicate the enclave mentality benefitting a few elites in the resource-rich nation.

Congolese music

By Patrick Musira in Harare : IT may be the food of life that makes the world go round and is easily one of that country’s most well known and popular exports across the length and breadth of the African continent and the four corners of the world, but the Democratic Republic Congo’s ambassador in Harare has called on his fellow nationals to “slow down the pace on the song and dance!” Read the full story

Soya - Bean Research in Africa

Zimbabwe’s Professor Sheunesu Mpepereki of the University of Zimbabwe (UZ) Soil and Environmental Sciences department Faculty of Agriculture was recently awarded the US$10 000 2009/10 Impressa award for outstanding impact oriented soya-bean research benefitting smallholder farmers in Africa. Read the full story

Africa Youth

BY WALLACE MAWIRE  : HARARE-A National Strategy for the Development of Statistics (NSDS) is being formulated in Zimbabwe to ensure an integrated framework for developing national statistics in a holistic,comprehensive and synergic manner, according to Zimbabwe National Statistics Agency. Read the full story

Grandparent caregivers

Wrinkles of wisdom turn into wrinkles of burden as grandparents find it hard to make both ends meet

You won’t catch GogoMaTshuma gossiping at the borehole

By Patrick Musira in Harare, ZIMBABWE

During this New Year’s weekend, three old Zvishavane, Midlands, women were reportedly dragged to a village “kangaroo” court accused of being witches. A hired witch-sniffer or “prophet” accused them of being partly responsible for the deaths of other villagers!

Why? The old women had lived to such a ripe old age because, the witch-sniffer told the gathering, “they fed on human flesh”. Read the full story

Africa Rhinoceros

Zimbabwe’s magnificent big five disappearing

By Patrick Musira in HARARE  Zimbabwe’s unique network of natural parks and wildlife conservancies is back in the gun-sights for failing to stem the decline of one of its “big five” large inland savanna mammals – the black rhino.

A shocking hike in black rhino poaching, with more than 200 reportedly slaughtered in the last three Years and only a 3 % conviction rate for those charged with these heinous crimes, led the International Union for Conservation and Nature (IUCN) to call for an enquiry. Read the full story

By Josiah Dimbo in Harare.

High speed train

Zimbabwe needs about 8-10 Billion dollars for infrastructure development, a cabinet minister said recently in Harare.

The Minister of Finance, Hon Tendai Biti said the amount required for infrastructure development is huge for the government to undertake big projects without assistance from the private sector. Read the full story

climate change, eco-systems and natural resources crises

In the face of climate change, eco-systems and natural resources crises, water scarcity and the arising demand for clean water are on the rise while water supplies face mounting pollution. Zimbabwe , being drought-prone, carries with it a series of challenges with water quality – often more correctly water safety – rising on the agendas of policy makers and water consumers.

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Give Peace a Chance

By Wallace  Mawire  Harare, Zimbabwe

Heal Zimbabwe Trust (HZT), an NGO based in Zimbabwe which works with victims of political violence and torture will on Monday hold a summit for survivors of political violence in Zimbabwe in a bid to address the issue of national healing following the political violence that hit the country in the March 2008 elections.

Read the full story