Zim Eye

By Simba Chikanza

9 November 2012

Zimbabwe’s Education, Sport and Culture minister David Coltart has set in motion active plans for a massive computerisation project that is to see the whole of Zimbabwe’s schools linked under a live 24/7 data management software to be accessible for progressive decision making.

Under the new Education Management Information System (EMIS) programme, all schools will be networked for electronic learning and there is bound to be improved change in the instruction of curriculum in languages, sports and culture.

Minister Coltart announced this development in detail:

“The Zimbabwean Ministry of Education will finish its compilation of 2012 school data by end of November bringing data up to date for first time since 2006. Once the 2012 data has been published we will then move on to the next stage in the rehabilitation of our EMIS with the purchase of hard & software.

“The new EMIS will link our HQ in Harare with our 10 Provincial offices, 73 District offices and eventually all 8500 schools, a two way flow of information. We are doing this through the Education Transition Fund with the generous support of donors and Unicef. EMIS is a critical component in restoring excellence to the education sector. Since taking office in February 2009 I have not had accurate data to work on because when I took office our EMIS system had almost completely broken down.”

The Education minister also said that progress is now at an advanced stage:

“This makes planning exceptionally difficult so I am pleased that we have made the progress we have and congratulate all my subordinates within the Ministry who have worked tirelessly, with our friends in Unicef, to get the 2012 data compiled through our existing manual system. When the entire system is computerised it will obviously become far more efficient, which will make our planning more efficient and able to adapt quicker to the ever changing circumstances in the education sector.”

Analysts have expressed so much confidence in the way in which the said Minister has sought not only to reach out and improve school systems, but also in the way he has engaged various stakeholders through his open door policy that also include sport and culture departments. Many will also remember him for his humble option to drive an old pick up to work as he saw no reason to be in a ministerial Mercedes Benz at a time when the general conditions in the country were not worthy that pursuit of luxury.

Eyewitness News

8 November 2012

Zim Eye

8 November 2012 

The long-awaited report from a police investigation on allegations of the murder of Munashe Banda, a 13 year old boy at Prince Edward High school, has been completed and is now under the scrutiny of Minister David Coltart and other senior officials.

13 year old Munashe Banda was found dead with his body floating in a swimming pool at Prince Edward School, one of Zimbabwe’s most prestigious government schools.

A senior staff member in Coltart’s office confirmed to ZimEye about the completion of the report adding that it would only be made avaliable to the public after the official review of the facts and police conclusions on what exactly transpired. In any case family members would have that option either to have the information shared with the nation or request a respect for their privacy.

According to Minister Coltart’s office, the Education ministry has to date received a number of complaints about Prince Edward School. “Some of these came through the radio,” the official said..

A separate investigation was at the time of writing being conducted by the police.

In brief, unconfirmed commentaries on this issue have pointed to bullying as the probable cause of the Munashe’s death. This assertion has however been dismissed by the School Headmaster, Mr. Agrippa Sora, . ZimEye will update readers when the report is finally released to the public.

The Zimbabwean

By Ashly Sibanda

8 November 2012

Education and Culture Minister, David Coltart has condemned the police and the Attorney General’s double standards for arresting Counselling Services UNION (CSU) representatives yet failing to arrest named Asiagate match fixers.

Coltart called on the police and the AG, Johannes Tomana to arrest Asiagate match fixers with the same speed and determination they did against CSU officials on Monday.

Three CSO officials, Fidelis Mudimu, Zachariah Godi, Tafadzwa Gesa have since been transferred to Bulawayo to face trial for allegedly having subversive material.

“As I said earlier on this week we in the MDC condemn the arrest and detention of these folk who look after and counsel torturevictims. The circumstances of the arrest and detention is so unusual that we expect the AG and ZRP to explain what they have been arrested for.It would be nice if the AG and ZRP acted with the same haste and determination as they have in the CSU case in prosecuting those responsible for match fixing and corruption in Zimbabwe football,” Coltart said on Thursday.

The MDC’s and a number of civic society activists have condemned the police for raiding CSU offices and arresting its repreventatives officials.

CSU is a non-governmental organization that provides psychological and medical assistance to individuals traumatized by political violence and torture.

The raid has been condemned by civic groups and political parties in the country, who accuse the government of conducting a crackdown on human rights defenders and political activists.

There have been several other raids and arrests of journalists and MDC-T officials in the last few months, which some observers have linked to elections due in the country next year.

New Zimbabwe

6 November 2012

BARACK Obama was retained as United States president for a new four-year term following Tuesday’s elections, defeating Republican challenger Mitt Romney.

Thousands of Zimbabweans around the world stayed up all night into Wednesday to witness America’s pageant of democracy in action.

Among them, Education Minister David Coltart marvelled at the ease of voting and rapid release of results. He said on Twitter: “It takes an election in such a vast country to show us Zimbabweans what we need to do if we are to respect our right to elect.

“We need to restore national pride in Zimbabwe. We cannot remain the laughing stock of the world by having such poorly run elections.”

Obama, the son of a Kenyan immigrant father and American mother, was returned to the White House despite a weak economy that plagued his first term and put a crimp in the middle class dreams of millions.

In victory, the Democrat spoke to thousands of cheering supporters in Chicago, praising Romney and promising that better days are ahead.

“While our road has been hard, though our journey has been long, we have picked ourselves up. We have fought our way back and we know in our hearts that for the United States of America, the best is yet to come,” he said.

Romney made a graceful concession speech before a disappointed crowd in Boston. He summoned all Americans to pray for Obama and urged the night’s political winners to put partisan bickering aside and “reach across the aisle” to tackle the nation’s problems.

Romney won in North Carolina but Obama swept to victory in Ohio, Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada, Wisconsin, Virginia and Colorado.

With Florida the last swing state left to call, he had 303 electoral college votes to Romney’s 206 and was well over the crucial threshold of 270.

The Herald 

By Jonathan Mbiriyamveka

6 November 2012

The recently held two-day National Arts Council of Zimbabwe’s annual Indaba in Masvingo ended on a high note with the setting up of a taskforce that compiled challenges bedevilling the arts and culture industry. The list of problems was given to the council’s board chairperson, Dr Thokozile Chitepo, who would then hand it over to Education, Sport, Arts and Cul­ture Minister David Coltart.

It was noted that there was need for a master plan or framework through which arts can be profession­alised and regulated vis-à-vis creating good art, new mar­kets and funding. A call was made to harmonise function and resources for the arts and culture departments in the sev­eral ministries that deal with arts and culture. The taskforce also noted that the sector show interface with Minister Coltart on a regular basis. This was prompted by the Minister’s absence at the important Indaba.

It was also noted that an electronic forum should be created for debate among stakeholders as well as profiling the sector through the National Arts Council directory on the website and calendar of events and their budgets. While some of the problems emerged as part of the recommendations, of great concern was the creation a stand alone ministry of arts and culture and delegates agreed that there should be sub-sector indabas that will culminate in the national indaba.

Among the presenters was veteran theatre pro­ducer Cont Mhlanga, who challenged artistes to create opportunities for business. Mhlanga said now is the time to move away from words to action and make money from the arts.He said he was concerned that artistes were failing to create new markets for their products and yet the industry was blighted with festivals which did not add value towards a sustainable industry.

Mhlanga also spoke highly of “arts properties” such as the Jikinya Dance Fes­tival, saying the industry could make serious money if they tap into its full potential.He said one way of professionalising the arts was through setting up standards between amateurs, semi-amateurs and professionals.  Guest speaker, Ghonche Materego, the executive secre­tary of the National Arts Council of Tanzania said the sit­uation in his country was similar to that in Zimbabwe.

Materego said both countries lacked adequate funding for the arts but he, however, warned that the sector was better off under the Ministry of Education.“In Tanzania we started off with funding from the gov­ernment but as time went on and due to budget con­straints funding for the arts was stopped. It is the same in my country because as we speak we don’t get any funding from government. However, what we have done was to come up with strategies of raising money for example, charging levies on any foreign artistes that perform in the country,” Materego said.

He, however, hailed the National Arts Council of Zim­babwe for working with the little funding they get from Government but stressed the need for the regulatory body to be creative and innovative in their bid to profes­sionalise the industry. Other speakers included Culture Fund director Farai Mpfunya, who urged artistes to think outside the box while veteran playwright Stephen Chifunyise presented a paper on where artists can access funding for their busi­nesses. Chifunyise bemoaned the lack of knowledge on the part of some artistes, who despite having good busi­ness proposals, fail to take up the opportunities and apply for funding.

A document by Pathisa Nyathi, on the national her­itage arts and culture policy, was roundly dismissed as bogus because the artists claimed they were not con­sulted. Be that as it may, the Indaba 2012, sponsored by the British Council and Culture Fund was a success as it called for action rather than cheap talk. This year’s indaba focused on the arts and culture policy, funding policies and models as well as the scope of intangible cultural heritage in Zim­babwe.

The Zimbabwe Mail

5 November 2012

THE two MDCs have lashed out at President Robert Mugabe for castigating Finance minister Tendai Biti over government’s failure to provide money for agricultural inputs, saying accusing Biti of sabotage was nothing more than political grandstanding on the part of the Zanu PF leader. In interviews with NewsDay yesterday, the two MDCs said Mugabe as Head of State and Government had approved every National Budget by Biti and was, therefore, liable for the shortcomings of the budget.Mugabe lashed out at Biti when he officially launched a $20 million agricultural input scheme in Harare on Saturday, questioning how the government could be ever be broke when it could borrow money.

Mugabe said: “They say we don’t have money, but they are the ones in charge of the Finance ministry. If it were a Zanu PF government, without these other partners, do you think you can tell that to the people? A government can dare not say we have no money to give people to grow food for the country. We can’t say that. We must have the capacity even to borrow. No
government does without borrowing from others.”

MDC leader Welshman Ncube yesterday said Mugabe was proffering lame excuses and blaming the wrong people for his own failures as President of the country.“This is the deliberate, uninformed attitude that got us to the worst inflation when Mugabe ordered Gideon Gono (Reserve Bank governor) to print money. It’s a philosophical point. It is untrue that government can have  unlimited resources.“President Mugabe is Head of Government and whatever happens requires his approval. He cannot, therefore, blame anyone.

Minister Biti reports to Cabinet and funding priorities are agreed at Cabinet level, approved by Mugabe. There is no way the President can distance himself from Biti’s budgets,” said Ncube.Mugabe also attacked fertiliser-manufacturing companies for failing to produce and dole out fertilisers to farmers even though they might not have been paid for previous supplies.“The fertiliser-producing companies do not have the fertilisers (and) it is not because they are failing to produce the fertiliser, but they have folded their arms saying the government should first pay for the supplies that we gave it last year . . . If our credit has not been repaid, what good is it to supply more fertiliser? That is the way they have seen it,” Mugabe said.

Education minister David Coltart (MDC) earlier on Saturday had posted on his Facebook wall that Mugabe, who raised $20 million for the agricultural input scheme — $12 million more than the annual Education budget — should disclose the source of the funding.“The source of the inputs fund may be legitimate, but Zimbabweans will only know that if the President is candid about its source. Transparency,” said Coltart in a statement that could give credence to accusations of parallel government structures as alleged by the two MDCs. Zanu PF has been repeatedly accused of creaming off the country of diamond revenues from Marange to run a “parallel government” and build a war chest for elections.

Mugabe’s input scheme came soon after the party had reportedly bought over 500 vehicles worth around $14 million for election purposes. MDC-T spokesperson Douglas Mwonzora weighed in, challenging Mugabe to disclose his donors or risk being accused of benefiting from illegal dealings in the Marange diamonds, whose exact revenue remains unclear. Mwonzora said it was illogical for Mugabe to ask Biti to borrow money when it was a Zanu PF administration that destroyed the country’s creditworthiness.“Mugabe should not blame other people when it’s his regime that destroyed Zimbabwe’s creditworthiness,” Mwonzora said.

The proposals to reform mining laws have not been published, but Mpofu indicated last week that the gold panners would be issued with free operating licences.

Conservationists worry that it would be difficult to police the gold panners to force them to adhere to operating guidelines.

The Standard

By Tendai Marima

4 November 2012

FOR the second year running, Zimbabwe has topped Africa’s literacy tables,  but an estimated one million children in the country are out of school, it has emerged.

The World Economic Forum’s Global Competitiveness Report 2012-2013 says 92% of adult Zimbabweans were able to read and write.

But the Education, Sport, Arts and Culture minister David Coltart said there was no reliable data on children out of school in the country due to a critical shortage of resources and skilled personnel.

“The ‘out-of-school’ children, numbers are still not known, but could be as high as another one million children,” Coltart said at the launch of an education assistance evaluation report in October.

The Zimbabwe National Strategic Plan for the Education of Girls, Orphans and Other Vulnerable Children 2005-2010 says soaring unemployment rates, spiralling school fees, mass labour migration and high HIV and Aids rates of the past decade were key factors that caused the rise in the number of school drop-outs.

The report was compiled by the ministry of Education and UN agencies.The report also says there has been a steady decrease in numbers of children attending primary and secondary school since 2005.

The Zimbabwe Vulnerability Assessment Report 2012 says of the 11 251 households sampled nationwide an estimated 14% of children of primary school-going age are not in school.

The highest numbers were recorded in Mashonaland West, Matabeleland North and Matabeleland South.

The assessment recommended that the government prioritise areas with the highest rates.

“The government and its development partners should develop policies and intensify efforts to better resource programmes such as the Basic Education Assistance Module to ensure universal access to primary education for both boys and girls,” said the report.“Priority in this regard should be given to the Matabeleland districts where the highest proportion of children were not in school.”

A welfare organisation, Children First is running a one-year out-of-school study group programme aimed at helping youths aged 12 to 15 years to get back into formal school.

The programme is funded the United States Agency for International Development.

New Zimbabwe

by Gilbert Nyambabvu

3 November 2012

COALITION parties have demanded that President Robert Mugabe explain the source of the US$20 million used to finance an agricultural input scheme the Zanu PF leader launched in Harare Saturday.

Said to have been financed by “well-wishers”, the scheme is expected to give  free agriculture inputs to some 800,000 households across the country.

But the programme, launched as parties get into camapign mode for crucial elections next year, appears to have cheesed-off Zanu PF’s rival.

Senior MDC official and Education Minister, David Coltart said Mugabe should reveal the identity of ‘well-wishers” funding the scheme, adding it was surprising the Zanu PF leader could raise such amounts when the government could only find US$8 million for education this year.

“Zimbabweans have a right to know who the “well-wishers” are and where their money comes from. Is it clean? Parallel governance at its worst,” Coltart wrote on his Facebook wall.

“These are not small amounts of money. In context of total money allocated to education (US$8,1 million to date) this is a huge inputs fund.

“The source of the inputs fund may be legitimate but Zimbabweans will only  know that if President is candid about its source. Transparency!”

Mugabe launched the scheme at his Zanu PF party’s headquarters in the capital, lending credence to claims by rivals that the programme was a campaign gimmick ahead of next year’s polls.

Zanu PF’s coalition partners accuse the party of skimming off revenues from Marange diamond mining to finance a “parallel government” as well as build a war chest for the elections.

Mugabe is insisting new polls must be held in March to end the shaky coalition government which he describes as unworkable and illegal.

And on Saturday, the Zanu PF leader was clearly in campaign mode, attacking the coalition administration and the MDC-T – which runs the Finance Ministry – for failing to fund agriculture, the mainstay of the country’s
economy.

He said: “This animal (inclusive Government) wants to eat, but when we say the food comes from farming, the other side (MDC) says they are inca­pable, but the Zanu PF side continues to say we should farm, we should get inputs.

“How is this animal supposed to survive? How is the nation supposed to survive? Are you (MDC) not getting this message?

“They say we don’t have money, but they are the ones in charge of the Finance Ministry. Hatina mari, hatina mari. Saka hatina mari, hatina mari, ihurumende yerudziyi? Hatina mari, naizvozvo hatina fertiliser, naizvozvo hatigone kurima.“If it were a Zanu PF Gov­ernment without these other partners, do you think you can tell that to the people? A gov­ernment can dare not say we have no
money to give people to grow food for the country.

“We can’t say that. We must have the capacity even to borrow. No government does without borrowing from others.”Zanu PF has accused Finance Minister Tendai Biti of failing to help re-capiltaise the Grain Market Board (GMB) resulting in farmers failing to be paid for grain deliveries. Mugabe also said fertiliser companies were threatening to “sabotage” the new agriculture season because they had not been paid for previous supplies.

“The fertiliser pro­ducers do not have the fertilisers (and) it is not because they are failing to produce the fertiliser, but they have folded
their arms say­ing the Govern­ment should first pay for sup­plies that we gave it last year,” Mugabe said.

“They are saying we do not have money to continue production. Besides, if our credit has not been repaid, what good is it to supply more fertiliser? That is the way they have seen it.”

Finance Minister Tendai Biti has previously denied underfunding agriculture, insisting support for the sector has, in fact, increased over the tenure of the coalition administration.

And speaking at a pre-budget meeting in Victoria Falls Saturday, Biti he added: “Government will soon pay everything that it owes to farmers. Over the past few months Government has provided US$52 million.

“As of today, we are have paid US$20 million to seed and fertiliser companies and by the time we present the budget on November 15, we would have paid everything that we owe. We have also given US$5 million to Agribank for this sum­mer cropping season.”