New Zimbabwe

20 October 2012

SPORTS Minister David Coltart has called on Police Commissioner Augustine Chihuri and Attorney General Johannes Tomana to initiate criminal proceedings against football players and administrators involved in the Asiagate scandal.

An official report said national team matches were fixed by ex-ZIFA officials along with convicted match-fixer Wilson Perumal between 2007 and 2009.

ZIFA announced on Friday that 15 players and officials – including the decorated former Zimbabwe coach Sunday Chidzambwa and ex-ZIFA CEO Henrietta Rushwaya – had been banned for life from all football activities.

Over 50 other players and officials will, in the coming weeks, learn of their punishments which will range from suspensions of six months to 10 years, say officials.

“I fully support ZIFA’s decision to serve life bans on various players and administrators responsible for what is undoubtedly the most shameful chapter of Zimbabwe’s sporting history,” Coltart.

“I trust that the Police and the Attorney General will now act quickly to investigate and prosecute those identified. If they don’t, then their offices will also be tainted by this scandal.

“I have no doubt that the football loving public expects that those responsible for criminal activity should face the full wrath of the law.”

An independent panel chaired by retired High Court judge Ahmed Ebrahim identified systematic corruption after Perumal burrowed his way into the heart of Zimbabwean football.

Justice Ebrahim said in Rushwaya and other senior officials including ZIFA programmes officer Jonathan Musavengana and football agent Kudzai Shabba, Singapore national Perumal found willing participants in his corruption.

Players – including the former captain Method Mwanjali now of Sundowns in South Africa, former CAPS United goalkeeper Edmore Sibanda, Dynamos defender Guthrie Zhokinyi, Kaizer Chiefs defender Thomas Sweswe and Danisa Phiri – dragged their teammates along as they assumed a central role in the corruption in which they were paid to lose matches. They will never play football again, ZIFA said.

Journalists were not spared by the corruption. Robson Sharuko, editor of the country’s biggest daily newspaper – the Herald – and former Sunday Mail reporter Hope Chizuzu, who was now working for the Premier League side Monomotapa, were also banned.

Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation

20 October 2012

The Minister of Education, Sport, Arts and Culture, Senator David Coltart has hailed the completion of the Asiagate report that has resulted in the imposition of penalties on players, officials and journalists who participated in match fixing activities.

The handing down of life bans to 15 players, officials and journalists has been met with mixed feelings, but Senator Coltart has commended the work done by the independent ethics committee that was headed by Justice Ebrahim.

With players, officials and journalists sanctioned from football activity, Coltart said it is also important that police institute criminal investigations.

Minister Coltart’s remarks follow the release of a list of 15 players that were slapped with life bans by the Zimbabwe Football Association following recommendations made by a report crafted by the independent ethics committee.

Administrators such as Henrietta Rushwaya and Jonathan Musavengana were slapped with life bans together with technical personnel including Sunday Chidzambwa, Rodwell Dhlakama, and Emmanuel Nyahuma.

Method Mwanjali, Thomas Sweswe, Edmore Sibanda and Guthrie Zhokinyi are among players whose football careers have been cut short.

Names of those handed with 10-year bans will be released next week, with five, three, two and one year ban casualties set to know their fate in subsequent weeks.

A total of 16 players have been exonerated.

The Sunday Mail

By Fatima Bulla

20 October 2012

Henrietta Rushwaya, the former Zifa chief executive officer and sus­pected mastermind of the Asiagate match-fix­ing operation, has accepted the life ban passed on her by the mother body. Rushwaya said she still felt the ver­dict was sexist, but said she hoped it would clear the way for local football to develop.

Rushwaya, who took up employ­ment at 53 Livingstone Avenue towards the end of 2006, said she got into office while the match-fixing syn­dicate had already established roots and she fell into the murky waters without know­ing.  “I feel like they have made me an easy target because I am a woman, but this began way before I was in office and I just fell into the trap. However, I accepted being the scapegoat and I have dusted myself while moving on with my life.

 “I am sorry for those who are trying to get to grips with their sentences, but I hope with this conclusion our football continues to grow to the extent of qual­ifying for the World Cup and African Cup of Nations tourna­ments.

 “And my advice to journalists is that they have to advance their education just in case things like this happen and they end up getting stranded,” she said, without being specific. Rushwaya said she was now focused on her budding political career. In a related development, former national team captain Method Mwan­jali and Dynamos defender Guthrie Zhokinyu, who are among the 15 play­ers and officials to be handed life time bans by Zifa in the Asiagate scandal, have turned to the Footballers’ Union of Zimbabwe for help.

 Mwanjali, who plies his trade at South Africa’s Mamelodi Sundowns, was involved in seven games while Zhokinyu took part once. Accused of betraying the country during the national team’s trips of shame to Asia, including the African Cup of Nations final qualifier in Cape Verde which Zimbabwe lost 2-1 under mysterious circumstances, the duo are pressing for leniency.

 According to Paul Gundani, the sec­retary for Footballers’ Union of Zim­babwe, Mwanjali was yet to receive communication regarding the ban and the same applies to Zhokinyu, who travelled with Dynamos to Kwekwe for a Mbada Cup quarter final match against Gun­ners scheduled for this afternoon.

“We accept the authority of Zifa over all football issues as the supreme body. Nevertheless on Asiagate, Zifa must take cognisance of the fact that the scandal was not arranged by the players but by then Zifa officials.

 “The players were threatened with victimisation if they revealed what was happening, so we are saying Zifa should give these players suspended sentences so that in the event there is a recurrence of such shenanigins, the sentences will come into effect. “A heavy fine would have been an even better option,” Gundani appealed in an interview with the paper.

 Gundani said Mwanjali and Zhokinyu had preferred to remain mum over the issue as they await offi­cial communication before they pon­der the next move which will most probably be to appeal against the judg­ment.

 With Section (10) of the Fifa disci­plinary code stating that anyone banned from football may appeal to Fifa in three days after lodging a fee of 3 000 Swiss francs (about US$3 300), Gundani said clubs should chip in to help their players.

“There are some players who are really good assets to their clubs, like Zhokinyu, and Dynamos itself is a big institution which can weigh in to help him while he commits his time to play­ing for the team. They would actually be in a better place even after the whole battle is over,” he said.

 Meanwhile, Herald senior sports editor Robson Sharuko, who was among two journalits handed a life ban by Zifa, refused to comment when reached at the weekend.

“I do not want to say anything at the moment, just that this is a process with a beginning but it will also have an end­ing,” he said and would not be drawn into saying anything more.

Former Motor Action goalkeepers’ coach Emmanuel Nyahuma said he would find an alternative sport to pur­sue.

 “It’s not fair, I never contacted any­one to fix matches because I was just a worker going to work and we were told that there were matches to be played and I could not question since I was an employee. However, there is nothing I can do. I will try to live without break­ing the rules. Maybe I can turn to cricket or tennis,” Nyahuma said.

Journalist Hope Chizuzu, who had a post on the Monomotapa United exec­utive and was charged for travel­ling with the team to Malaysia where they masqueraded as th national team, was not answering his phone yesterday.

 In Johannesburg, Thomas Sweswe, however, featured for his team Kaizer Chiefs in a Telkom Cup knockout match against Bidvest Wits on Friday with commentators speculating it could be his last match while Sunday Chidzambwa was set to take charge of Black Leopards as they faced Orlando Pirates yesterday evening.

Sources said Fifa will communicate the decision to the affected clubs once they sit as a board to endorse the Zifa findings and the bans will then be effected. Mamelodi Sundowns propri­etor Patrice Motsepe has already writ­ten to the club management asking them to make an immediate decision on Mwanjali and striker Nyasha Mushekwi, who is also awaiting his sen­tence.

 Over 50 other players and officials will, in the coming weeks, learn of their punishments which will range from suspensions of six months to 10 years.

Meanwhile, according to New Zim­babwe.com, Education, Sport, Arts and Culture Minister David Coltart has called on Police Commissioner-Gen­eral Augus­tine Chihuri and Attorney-Gen­eral Johannes Tomana to initiate crim­inal proceedings against those involved in the Asiagate scandal.

An official report said national team matches were fixed by ex-Zifa offi­cials along with convicted match-fixer Wil­son Perumal between 2007 and 2009.

“I fully support Zifa’s decision to serve life bans on various players and administrators responsible for what is undoubtedly the most shameful chap­ter of Zimbabwe’s sporting history,” Coltart said.

“I trust that the police and the Attor­ney-General will now act quickly to investigate and prosecute those identi­fied. If they don’t, then their offices will also be tainted by this scan­dal.

“I have no doubt that the football-loving public expects that those responsible for criminal activity should face the full wrath of the law,” Coltart was quoted as saying.

The Sunday News

By Vusumuzi Dube

20 October 2012

BUBI Rural District Council has passed a resolution that will see them constructing classroom blocks and teachers’ cottages at various schools in the area yearly, in a bid to attract the best quality of teachers and improve education standards, an official has said.

Bubi RDC chief executive officer, Mr Patson Mlilo, said while they were being disadvantaged by the unavailability of funds, they were prioritising the improvement of schools infrastructure in the district as they had realised that the Government was doing little to assist them thus the deplorable state most of the schools were now in.

“The council recently passed a resolution that will see us constructing at least three classrooms and a teacher’s cottage a year, we will be starting with those schools that do not have access to any donor funds and the Schools’ Development Committees are failing to raise any funds to improve their infrastructure.

“We realised that we can’t just sit back and wait for the Government to do this for us, thus we are using money from our own coffers to do these projects although we cannot do it at a large scale because we are being limited by funds,” said Mr Mlilo.

He said their major challenge was ensuring that children in the district get the best possible education and this could only be achieved by attracting teachers with the necessary experience thus the need to provide them with decent accommodation.

“You must realise that our district had about 10 new resettlements, therefore, in these settlements we had to establish at least two schools mainly using farm houses, so now we have to come in and built decent classrooms and accommodation at these settlements.

“What makes our situation more severe is that we last received Government funding in 2008 for the rehabilitation of these schools, therefore, we have no choice but to do it ourselves,” said the CEO.

He said to date they had started the construction projects at Alpha Secondary School (Ward 21), Battlefield Secondary School (Ward 13), Mdutshane Primary School (Ward 20) and Siganda Primary School (Ward 2).

“These projects are at various stages of completion, we are hoping that we will have completed all of them by the end of the year so that we can move to the next priority schools,” he said.

The CEO said they had a full inventory of all the schools in the district and had noted all their urgent requirements so that they could be addressed accordingly.

“We are also greatful to the Ministry of Water Resources and Management that has selected our district to benefit under the water and sanitation programme where they will build toilets in most of our schools, which will be a big boost as most of these schools don’t have ablution facilities,” said Mr Mlilo.

Education, Sport, Art and Culture Minister, Senator David Coltart has in the past stressed the need for the Government to prioritise schools infrastructure development in  Matabeleland, which he has blamed for the low pass rates being experienced.

The Chronicle

18 October 2012

The swift action by the Zimbabwe School Examinations Council to withdraw thirteen Ordinary Level examination papers after an acting headmaster lost them while travelling from Bulawayo is the kind of quick intervention that public institutions are expected to take whenever things go wrong.

Zimsec did a good job by not wasting time to move in and rectify the situation. This will certainly salvage the integrity of our examination system. In the past leaks of examination papers have compromised the security of our examination system. But Zimsec has in recent years worked tirelessly to restore the confidence that had become the hallmark of our schools examination system and indeed the greater Zimbabwean education sector. Government has since independence toiled to build an education sector that has become the envy of the world. This is the reason why graduates of the Zimbabwean education system from secondary school level to tertiary level (universities, polytechnics and teachers’ colleges) have found it easy to fit into any situation in the world. Our education standards are still high up there but all stakeholders — Government, Zimsec, school authorities, parents and students themselves — must never sit on their laurels to preserve the world class standards that are synonymous with education in Zimbabwe.

Zimsec board chairman Professor Norman Maphosa announced on Wednesday that the school examinations body had withdrawn thirteen O Level examination papers after an acting headmaster of Sijawugwe Secondary School in Bubi District lost them while on his way to the school after collecting the papers from Bulawayo. The timetable for the O Level examinations, however, remains unchanged and the examinations will start on 29 October as scheduled. The withdrawn examination papers were for English (Paper 1 and 2), Mathematics (non-calculator version Paper 1 and 2), Integrated Science (Paper 1, 2 and 3), Commerce (Paper 1 and 2) and Ndebele (Paper 1 and 2). Professor Maphosa said the examinations body was working on replacing the papers and examinations will go ahead at all 2 118 O Level centres without disruption. At least $850 000 will be required to replace the missing papers and that is quite a substantial amount given the inadequate resources that Zimsec has to contend with. However, the examinations body will have to bear the cost of printing other examination papers following the unfortunate incident involving the Sijawugwe Secondary School acting headmaster Mr Panganai Zimunhu. We urge the Ministry of Education, Sport, Arts and Culture to take disciplinary measures against Mr Zimunhu while Zimsec should continue to search for foolproof methods of getting examination papers to schools and other examination centres. It is unfortunate that Zimsec is not adequately funded. If the examinations body was well-funded the ideal way would have been for Zimsec to take the papers on its own to the schools and other examination centres. Since this is not feasible for now, it is then incumbent upon school authorities who are charged with collecting examination papers from Zimsec regional offices to take all the necessary precautions to guard against leaks.

In recent years, Government and donors had greatly assisted Zimsec to prevent leaks of examination papers.

Education, Sport, Arts and Culture Minister Senator David Coltart was once quoted saying: “Objectively, we have seen a huge improvement in Zimsec compared to the past two years. I don’t argue that Zimsec is perfect. A lot needs to be done to re-establish public confidence but it’s a process. At the moment we have a strong board and a financial team that has brought a lot of financial discipline. Zimsec will become a centre of excellence in the region.”

Indeed all Zimbabweans share Minister Coltart’s vision for a Zimsec that it is  a centre of excellence in the region.

But for that to happen all the relevant stakeholders must play their part to maintain the integrity of our examination system.

The Chronicle

By Pamela Shumba

17 October 2012

THE Zimbabwe Schools Examination Council (Zimsec) has withdrawn 13 Ordinary Level examination papers at all its examination centres countrywide after the acting headmaster of Sijawugwe Secondary School in Bubi District lost them while travelling from Bulawayo to the school on Sunday.

The timetable for O-Level examinations, however, remains unchanged and they will start on 29 October as scheduled.
The withdrawn papers are English Language (Paper 1 and 2), Mathematics non calculator version (Paper 1 and 2), Geography (Paper 1 and 2), Integrated Science (Paper 1, 2 and 3), Commerce (Paper 1 and 2) and Ndebele (Paper 1 and 2).
Confirming the developments yesterday, Zimsec board chairman Professor Norman Maphosa said the examination body was working on replacing the question papers.
He said examinations would proceed at all the 2 118 O-Level centres without disruption.
“Zimsec has cancelled all the question papers for missing subjects at all examination centres countrywide,” he said.
“Zimsec is now replacing the 13 question papers with new ones and the examinations are going to proceed as indicated on the original timetable. There are not going to be any changes to the timetable and examination centres will be notified accordingly.”
Prof Maphosa apologised to the O-Level candidates, parents and stakeholders for the unfortunate incident, saying investigations were still in progress.
“Zimsec is aware and regrets the anxiety this incident may have caused to candidates, parents, guardians and other stakeholders. I would like to inform them that everything is under control.
“We are yet to get full details on how the question papers went missing. Apart from this incident, other centres had managed to collect their papers without any challenges,” he said.
Prof Maphosa urged those involved in handling of the question papers to exercise “due dilligence and care”.
“We would not expect a recurrence of this unfortunate incident. We believe the Ministry of Education, Sport, Arts and Culture will take the necessary disciplinary measures against the headmaster as they are the employer,” he said.
Prof Maphosa said it was the responsibility of Zimsec and the parent Ministry to ensure the examination papers were safe.
“We are always security conscious and because of lack of resources, we cannot deliver the examination papers to every school that is why we work together with the Ministry,” he said.
The acting school head, Mr Panganai Zimhuno, reportedly lost the examination papers in a bus between Renkini Long Distance Bus Terminus and the 30km peg along the Bulawayo-Nkayi Road when he was coming from Bulawayo.
It cost Zimsec $996 000 to print examination question papers for the 286 343 candidates who registered for the O-Level examinations this year.
To replace the missing question papers for the six subjects, Zimsec needs about $850 000.
Prof Maphosa said they were negotiating with their printing partners for the new question papers to be printed as soon as possible.
Zimsec prints and delivers the examination question papers to cluster collecting points where heads of various examination centres collect them.
The Minister of Education, Sport, Arts and Culture David Coltart said Government would only comment after getting the full details of what transpired to the examination papers.

News Day

By Daniel Nhakaniso

17 October 2012

HUNDREDS of people turned out at St Georges College Cathedral in the capital to pay their last respects to former Zimbabwe coach Kevin Curran who passed away in Mutare last Wednesday while jogging.

Curran, whose unexpected death shocked the cricketing world, received a befitting heroes’ sendoff with several tributes led by former teammates, Zimbabwe Cricket (ZC) officials and family members.

The two-hour service was attended by several dignitaries, friends and family, current and former cricketers, the late Curran’s colleagues in the local cricket fraternity and the Minister of Education, Sport Arts and Culture David Coltart.

Former Zimbabwe cricketer Andy Pycroft, who is now a member of the Elite Panel of ICC Match Referees, was the first to read out tributes on behalf of former national team players John Traicos and current Indian coach Duncan Fletcher.

ZC chairman Peter Chingoka delivered the eulogy, while former managing director Ozias Bvute spoke about his personal experiences with Curran.

Mid West Rhinos’ chief executive Kenyon Ziehl, Curran’s cousin spoke on his experiences with Curran from their early childhood in Rusape, while his son Tom also paid tribute to his late father.

Mashonaland Eagles players then did a guard of honor as a sign of respect to their coach as his white casket, which had a large flower arrangement on top, was led to the hearse after the church service.

Curran was expected to be laid to rest later yesterday at a private funeral.

He was born in Rusape in 1959.

Curran made his international debut at 20 and was an integral part of the Zimbabwe team at the 1983 and 1987 World Cups, but played the majority of his cricket for English counties Northamptonshire and Gloucestershire and for Natal in South Africa.

Curran was coaching Mashonaland Eagles, who were in Mutare to play Mountaineers in a one-dayer and Twenty20 game when he died.

He was known throughout his playing career for his physical fitness and stamina and retired in 1999 after a first-class career spanning over two decades.

Curran returned to Zimbabwe in 2004 to take up a full-time position as director of the national academy and coach of the Under-19 team, but assumed the role of national coach a year later following the departure of West Indian Phil Simmons.

Holiday Inn Hotel, Harare, Zimbabwe

Speech given by Senator David Coltart, Minister of Education, Sport, Arts, and Culture

17 October 2012

Today marks a milestone in the launch of the evaluation of the BEAM programme. In response to the rising challenges associated with the macro-economic meltdown which undermined social services provision, the Government of Zimbabwe launched a unique safety net in the form of Basic Education Assistance Module (BEAM) in the year 2001.  BEAM is the educational funding component of the Government of Zimbabwe Poverty Alleviation Action Programme.  Its launch filled the gap created by the discontinuation of the Social Dimension Fund Fee Waiver Programme. The economic situation since that time has changed substantially.  BEAM aimed to reach 560,000 children.  A figure based on the 2003 poverty assessment survey study[1].

Unlike its predecessor which was centralized, the BEAM programme attempts in a very serious manner to empower communities to make decisions about the welfare of their less privileged children.

The Education Act, as amended, and the UN Convention on Children’s Rights classify education as a human right.  It is in that spirit that access to education by all becomes a critical national concern.  Hence the importance of BEAM whose objectives include the following:-

• Ø Prevention of school drop outs

• Ø Fostering the return to school by those who had left school due to inability to pay

• Ø Making it possible for children who have never been to school due to poverty to participate in education

• Ø Breaking the poverty cycle

• Ø Bringing the BEAM service in the people and fostering their ownership of it through nomination, vetting and selection of beneficiaries.

The BEAM evaluation was long overdue.  Gaps and weaknesses identified should form the basis for continuous training of Heads of Schools and the Community Selection Committees (CSC) in BEAM processes and procedures.  The values of integrity, empathy and transparency should be enhanced through such training.

It is also important that the two Ministry of Education, Sport, Arts and Culture and Labour and Social Services are materially and technically supported to effectively monitor, communicate with stakeholders and timeously disseminate information on payment of schools as well as to attend and respond to queries or other issues arising from such payments.  Monitoring of BEAM should be a continuous exercise at District, Provincial and Head Office levels involving both Ministries (Ministry of Labour and Social Services and Ministry of Education, Sport, Arts and Culture) whose officials should expeditiously process the BEAM application forms.

We have as a Ministry, and I have as Minister, borne the brunt of the concern expressed by the public, parents and guardians regarding children out of school. Not a week goes past without the press phoning for comment regarding children who have been thrown out of school for non payment of fees. It is also painfully obvious to me as I drive around Zimbabwe during school hours that there are many children not attending school. Whilst my observations are anecdotal they are now supported by empirical studies conducted in Zimbabwe during the last few years.

I note from the report that it is estimated from the BEAM Evaluation Report[2]that there are approximately 1 million children currently in need of BEAM support.  There are an estimated 3.6 million school age children (primary and secondary) in Zimbabwe.  The BEAM evaluation estimates that approximately 27% of these children are on average orphans and vulnerable children (OVCs) who are too poor to be able to afford school fees and levies.  This finding is further supported by the Zimbabwe Early Learning Assessment (ZELA)[3] that estimates the number of OVC’s to be 25%.  Those children identified in the BEAM and ZELA report are of children who are registered and in-school.  The number of out of school children, not included these assessments is not known. However, the 2012 Vulnerability Assessment Committee report[4] suggests that 14% of the rural school age population are not in school, this is higher for boys (16%) than for girls.  Some districts (Tsholotsho, Bubi, Gwanda) report out of school percentages as high as 24%.  44% of the Zimbabwe Vulnerability Assessment Committee respondents indicated that the reason for being out of school was financial constraints, with a further 10% indicating that they had to work for food or money.

The BEAM evaluation indicates that 28% of primary school students need BEAM and yet only 16.3% received BEAM.  There are an estimated 2.8 million primary school students.  (28% = 784,000) : (16.3% = 456,400).  Approximately 327,600 primary school children are in need of BEAM and do not receive support. For secondary 24% of secondary school student required BEAM and only 17.5% received BEAM.  There are an approximate total of 800,000 secondary school students in the country.  (24% = 192,000) : (17.5% = 140,000). Approximately 52,000 secondary school students needed BEAM and did not receive support.  A total of 976,000 primary and secondary school students are identified as needing BEAM support, however, approximately 380,000 do not receive any form of support.  From this, one can conclude that we have a very grave situation on our hands.

The BEAM evaluation indicated that in 2011 the per capita cost of a primary school BEAM beneficiary was $37.66 per year (up from $8.20 in 2009).  The average cost of secondary school student was $113.98.  Based on these 2011 figures, to cover the needs in full, approximately $29.56 million would have been required for primary and $21.89 for secondary.  Accordingly, a total of approximately $51.45 million was required for 2011.  Given an approximate 3% enrollment increase an estimated $53 million is required to cover the full annual BEAM requirement in 2013.  This will not cover the ‘out of school’ children, the number of which are still not known, but could be as high as another 1 million children.  A comprehensive ‘out of school’ assessment is planned in partnership with ZIMSTATS (on the back of the Population Census) in early 2013.

The funding of BEAM has until now been inadequate and resources to the education sector are severely limited.  MoESAC to date in 2012 has only received $8.1 million for non salary expenditure, to run 8500 schools, and sport, art and culture!  BEAM has also been identified as one of the four major priorities of the Government’s agenda of accelerating their commitment to MDG 2.  Without these additional funds, Zimbabwe risks not meeting its commitments to the children of Zimbabwe.

This is a very serious situation that we face and the only way it can be adequately addressed is if massive additional funding can be obtained both from Government and from our friends in the international community. The former will require a dramatic change in Government’s priorities. For example how can it be that we have deemed the construction of a US$98 million Defence College more important than building and maintaining primary and secondary schools? We need to commit ourselves to a radical change in direction; countries like South Korea and Singapore decided to invest in education 5 decades ago and they are only really reaping the benefits of that now. Sadly an investment in education does not yield the immediate short term results that politicians need to be re-elected and that appears to be the reason why education is so neglected. But if we have a vision for a strong, vibrant Zimbabwe then that substantial, long term and sustained investment must be made.

Turning back to this report I agree that the long term recommendation that BEAM must “review its role in the social protection framework” is important. Ultimately Government must move towards honoring its obligation to make primary education compulsory and free (for those who cannot afford to pay), which in turn will remove some of the necessity for BEAM. But even in the short term we need much closer liaison between the Ministries of Labour and Education to ensure that we jointly arrange for all children to be educated through the most efficient mechanism possible. To that extent I see the launch of this report as the beginning of an intense process to address the deficiencies of our current system. It is simply unacceptable that so many children are out of school or dropping our of school.

I look forward to the two Ministries urgently implementing the recommendations of the Evaluation Report in conjunction with the Ministry of Finance.

Defence Professionals

By Tawanda Karombo

16 October 2012

The Zimbabwean government is spending too much on defence and the military at the expense of other development sectors such as education, says a senior official in the splinter Movement Democratic Change (MDC), lead by Professor Welshman Ncube. Earlier this month Zimbabwe opened its $98 million National Defence College.

Zimbabwe is currently being run by a joint administration, bringing together the three major political parties in the country – Ncube’s MDC, Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai’s MDC-T and President Robert Mugabe’s ZANU-PF party.

Tsvangirai has criticised African leaders for “investing in arms and the military”. David Coltart, Zimbabwe’s Education Minister, has castigated Zimbabwe’s excessive spending on the military and defence for a country that is not at war. He said Zimbabwe’s “defence has been allocated $35 million” in the first half of the current year while education has received only $5 million, about 6% of the money budgeted for education.

“We are spending so much on defence and only a pitiful amount on education. If we don’t address these issues then the education of an entire generation will be lost.”

However, the views of Tsvangirai and Coltart are in sharp contrast with those of Mugabe, whose ZANU-PF party has seconded army personnel to senior positions in state parastatals and other government organisations. Retired Major-General Mike Nyambuya was appointed to head the National Indigenisation and Economic Empowerment Board two weeks ago in the latest move to militarise key institutions. Key parastatals and strategic public institutions in which ex-military personnel are heavily involved include the National Railways of Zimbabwe, Grain Marketing Board, Minerals Marketing Corporation of Zimbabwe, Zimbabwe Broadcasting Holdings, Broadcasting Authority of Zimbabwe and Zimpapers.

Last month, Mugabe officially opened the National Defence College just outside Harare which was built with assistance from China, with whom Zimbabwe is said to enjoy stronger military ties. In his address, he said there was need to enhance the security systems and intelligence systems of Zimbabwe.

He said China and Pakistan would avail expert military training for Zimbabwean army personnel at the defence college. Those to be trained there include military personnel from the ranks of colonel and others ranked above the colonels.

The defence college, built on a total area of 40,000 square meters, was constructed at a cost of $98 million (loaned by China) and took two years to complete.

China is Zimbabwe’s leading arms supplier, providing at least $66 million worth of small arms during Zimbabwe’s involvement in the civil war in the DRC (1998-2002). Since 2004 China has sold to Zimbabwe 139 military vehicles and 24 combat aircraft. Last year it was reported that Zimbabwe had taken delivery of 20 000 AK-47 assault rifles from China, together with other military and civil security equipment.

However, Zimbabwe sometimes struggles to take delivery of weapons due to sanctions. In 2008 South Africa prevented delivery of six containers of small arms and equipment when they stopped the China Ocean Shipping Company’s vessel An Yue Jiang from unloading in Durban. The weapons on board were shipped by Poly Technologies Incorporated of China.

According to the International Peace Information Service (IPIS), a Belgian research hub, in August 2008, 53 tons of ammunition were allegedly flown from the Democratic Republic of Congo to Harare. The ammunition was flown by Enterprise World Airways, aboard a Boeing 707-3B4C aircraft registered as 9Q-CRM.

The first shipment on August 21 contained 32 tons of 7.62mmx54 cartridges. Two days later a second shipment arrived, containing 20 tons of 7.62mmx39 cartridges, which are used in AK-47s. The ammunition arrived in Zimbabwe four months after the arms shipment was turned away at Durban, only to be flown into the country later from Angola, the report claimed.

Despite denials from Luanda and Beijing, an employee of the state-owned Zimbabwe Defence Industry (ZDI) in Harare told IPIS that the shipment, which contained mortar bombs, rockets and ammunition, had arrived in the country.

“The most prominent supplier of arms to Zimbabwe has been China, which supplied more than one-third of the volume of Zimbabwe’s major weapons between 1980 and 2009,” the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) has said.

The Institute said that China supplied 100 Dongfeng military vehicles to Zimbabwe via the Mozambican port of Beira in early 2005.

David Maynier, the Democratic Alliance’s defence spokesman said South Africa “should not be exporting conventional arms to a repressive regime such as Zimbabwe” after it emerged that South Africa had sold military equipment worth R2.2 million to Zimbabwe.

“The fact is there has been a de facto arms embargo on exporting conventional arms to Zimbabwe for nearly a decade,” he said.