Zimbabwean

By Brenna Matendere

18 June 2011

Education Minister David Coltart says his efforts to persuade the donor community to pay teachers’ salaries has hit a brick wall and members of the education sector should be patient and wait for a solution from government.

Coltart said this after a tour of Midlands schools held to assess progress made on the Education Transition Fund in which three million textbooks were distributed country wide. The project was sponsored by Unicef.

He said the donors had made it clear they could not foot the teachers’ wage bill though they were keen to fund other projects aimed at improving the education system.

Meanwhile, the Progressive Teachers Union of Zimbabwe has warned that if government does not increase salaries of its members by June 21, they will down tools.

Teachers and officials in the education sector, like other civil servants, earn between $180 and $250 a month. They are pushing for a minimum salary above the poverty datum line pegged at $502.

“I personally admit that the salaries of teachers at the moment are below standard and my colleagues in cabinet share that view. But we should not raise expectations by saying donors will help because they say its government’s baby,” said Coltart.

“The review of teachers’ salaries is still under deliberation in cabinet and as soon as a deal is struck, we will advise accordingly,” he added.

“We inherited a collapsed education sector in 2009 but a lot has been done now and teachers should bear that in mind because we are doing everything possible to address the issue,” he said.

Calls for the minister to persuade the donor community to fund the education system came as teachers pointed out that if Global Fund could foot allowances’ costs for nurses, the same could happen to them.

Newsday

By Sukoluhle Mthethwa

17 June 2011

The Minister of Education, Sport, Arts, and Culture David Coltart says he has written to Zifa requesting for audience with various stakeholders to discuss issues relating to the administration of revenue generated during football matches in the country.

This came after Zifa made a loss during the Warriors-Mali Africa Cup of Nations qualifier on June 5 despite attracting a capacity crowd.

In an interview on the sidelines of a function at which the minister addressed cricket franchise Matabeleland Tuskers players at Queens Sports Club Thursday, Coltart said there was need for an indaba to look at issues related to finances realised from the football matches.

Coltart said the football governing body in the country is yet to respond to his correspondence.

The minister was quick to spell out his reservations over how the money was used, citing revenue realised from the high-profile friendly match between the Warriors and Brazil last year prior to the World Cup hosted by South Africa last year.

“I have written a letter to Zifa as there is need to have an indaba which will look at funding of football in the country. One of the key aspect will be the issue of finances that come from the grounds.

“I am still waiting for Zifa to respond. We have to discuss the administration of funds that flow from football. We can look at the senior national soccer team when they played Brazil. At least 60 000 people paid at least $10 to get into the stadium. The question is where did all the money go? We are likely to discuss that,” he said.

The minister said the indaba should include sponsors, local authorities and the police and to ensure that funds generated from the national team are accounted for.

Recently, Zifa grossed more than $133 000 from gate takings during the Warriors-Mali Africa Cup of Nations Group A qualifier at Rufaro Stadium on June 5.

An estimated 30 000 football fans thronged Rufaro to watch the match which the Warriors won 2-1, enhancing their chances of qualifying for the continental showcase finals.

Despite the gross takings of more than $133 000, the country’s football governing body’s expenses reportedly gobbled up close to $140 000, leaving Zifa with a deficit of nearly $7 000.

Owners of Rufaro Stadium, the Harare City Council, made off with $25 261 in rentals with the Sport and Recreation Commission making their 6% levy of $7 482.

For providing security at the stadium, the Zimbabwe Republic Police got $5 122 while private security costs were pegged at $3 120.

The Confederation of African Footballreceived $6 235 and Fifa was paid $2 494 in levies.

At least 1 476 tickets were sold from pre-sales while most of the money was made from the turnstiles with Zifa issuing out $450 worth of complimentary tickets.

The Warriors’ players received $2 000 each,$12 000 was paid in appearance fees and $50 000 forked out for the winning bonuses.

Camping and daily allowances for the Warriors accounted for $7 250.

In addition to that Zifa president Cuthbert Dube gave the Warriors $25 000 from his personal pocket as a bonus for the win.

Newsday

By Sukoluhle Mthethwa, Sports Reporter

17 June 2011

Education, Sport, Arts and Culture minister David Coltart has urged schools to take up cricket to ensure a wider pool of players for selectors when picking national teams.

Coltart said this while addressing Matabeleland Tuskers players at a function that was held at Queens Sports Club yesterday to congratulate the team for winning the prestigious Logan Cup for the first time in 13 years.

Matabeleland Tuskers won the cup in April after defeating Mountaineers.

“Our national team players are mostly picked from 10 to 12 schools. These include Churchill, Prince Edward, Peterhouse, Plumtree, Falcon, Christian Brothers College and other schools. If we are serious about playing top-flight cricket we cannot allow that to continue. We need to include more schools,” he said.

Coltart said they had launched a programme that would see rehabilitation of sporting facilities in the country in schools which include Plumtree, Jason Ziyaphapha Moyo, Chaplin, Fletcher and Victoria High Schools among others.

Milton and Eveline High Schools in Bulawayo have already been identified as schools of sporting excellence.

He said there is need for political stability in the country as this would also increase investment into the sport.

“Cricket is fast becoming big business. If the economy picks up, cricket is going to develop in Zimbabwe. If we get our politics right, each one of you has a bright future in cricket and in our nation,” he said to the players.

Matabeleland Tuskers chief executive officer Stanley Staddon congratulated the team for winning the Logan Cup.

“We have won the Logan Cup after 13 years. We have no words to describe what this means. Sport is a business and let us make a career out of cricket,” he said.

Chronicle

Midlands Correspondent

16 June 2011

The Minister of Education, Sport, Arts and Culture, David Coltart yesterday said there is a consensus across the political divide that civil servants’ salaries should be increased immediately.

Addressing parents, teachers and provincial education heads soon after touring some rural and urban schools in Midlands Province yesterday, Minister Coltart said the issue of civil servants’ salaries has become a burning one in Cabinet and parties have agreed to review the salaries.

“The issue of civil servants’ salaries has been topical in every Cabinet meeting of late and there is a general consensus among the three political parties in the inclusive Government that the salaries should be improved. Everyone has agreed that the civil servants’ salaries are pathetic and that they need to be reviewed as a matter of urgency,” he said.

His comments come in the wake of reports of that on Thursday last week, Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai told the private media that the Government has no money to support and salary increase.

Sen Coltart, who declined to give a time frame on when the Government was going to review the civil servants’ salaries, said teachers should be patient and continue working while the issue was being addressed.

“I don’t want to raise the expectation of the civil servants’ and later have them dashed but the position is that civil servants’ salaries will be reviewed. I urge parents and teachers to remain for the good of our children,” he said.

The Government has proposed two minimum salaries for civil servants’ which are US$257 and US$397 and the final figure will be determined by the availability of funds.

Public Service Deputy Minister Andrew Langa said last week that his ministry and that of Finance met and agreed on the figures.

Civil servants’ take home between US$150 and US$200 per month, way below the poverty datum line estimated to be at US$504.

Minister Coltart, who applauded President Mugabe and Zanu-PF for creating what he said was the “best education system” in Africa, said there was a lot of disharmony and controversy brought about by the introduction of teachers’ incentives to supplement their salaries. “Let me acknowledge the greatest achievement that President Mugabe and Zanu-PF have done in the post-independence era is to bring about the best education system in Africa. This vibrant and education system was, however, facing collapse if it were not for the teachers’ incentives. These incentives have, however, brought about some disharmony in our schools,” he said.

Minister Coltart said he was facing a dilemma with some calling for the abolishing of teachers’ incentives, which he said he could not immediately scrap. He said the only way to end the controversy and disharmony brought about by the introduction of teachers’ incentives was to improve the civil servants’ salaries and their working conditions.

“Our education system is hanging in the balance and the only is to go is to improve the civil servants’ salaries,” he said.

Minister Coltart said his ministry was against the idea of teachers’ incentives but was not in a position to scrap them before civil servants’ salaries were reviewed.

“As a ministry we are very much aware of the burden placed on the parents as they struggle to raise school fees, levies as well as these incentives but I cannot immediately scrap the teachers’ incentives before their salaries have been reviewed,” he said.

Minister Coltart said the incentives have kept the education system ticking but the only way to reduce the burden was to improve the teachers’ salaries.

“We have even tried to engage international donors to help us pay teachers’ salaries without success. They have just agreed to assist on other issues to do with textbooks,” he said.

VOA

By Sandra Nyaira | Washington

15 June 2011

Finance Minister Tendai Biti called the deal “criminal” and Deputy Prime Minister Arthur Mutambara told Parliament it is time for Zimbabwe to take a fresh look at all the agreements it has signed with China

Zimbabwean Finance Minister Tendai Biti on Wednesday told Parliament he does not like a deal with China providing for a US$98 million loan to build a war college, saying it will mainly benefit the Chinese, the Zimbabwean military and ZANU-PF.

Members asked Biti, who earlier signed the agreement, why the government thought it was good for the country. Proceeds from a joint venture with the Chinese company Anjin to mine diamonds from the Marange field, will be garnished repay the loan.

Biti called the deal “criminal,” saying it will benefit the few at the expense of the many.

Mines Minister Obert Mpofu took exception to the finance minister’s remarks, saying the deal is the best that Zimbabwe has ever signed with China.

Deputy Prime Minister Arthur Mutambara told Parliament it is time for Zimbabwe to take a fresh look at all the agreements it has signed with China. He said the deals largely benefit China and its people rather than the people of Zimbabwe.

Economist John Robertson says the deal does not make economic sense for Zimbabwe.

Elsewhere, the parliamentary legal committee criticized indigenization regulations, potentially blocking the ZANU-PF side of the government from establishing a legislative framework for black empowerment and takeovers of foreign mines in particular.

Committee Chairman Shepherd Mushonga said his panel has asked the Indigenization Ministry to draft regulations that do not criminalize investors or violate the constitution.

Education Minister David Coltart, speaking in Gweru on Wednesday, asked teachers to remain patient on the issue of salaries, saying the government is aware of their plight but lacks the financial resources to properly remunerate them.

The Sunday Independent

June 12 2011

By Peter Fabricus

After being suspended from the Commonwealth for rigged elections, Mugabe said the organisation had nothing to offer the country.

Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe mocked the Commonwealth as a useless and intrusive organisation when he walked out of it in December 2003. “The Commonwealth is a mere club, but it has become like an ‘Animal Farm’, where some members are more equal than others,” he scoffed after the organisation refused, at its summit in Abuja, to lift its suspension of Zimbabwe the year before because it said he had rigged his re-election.

“If the choice was made for us to lose our sovereignty and become a member of the Commonwealth or to remain with our sovereignty and lose membership of the Commonwealth, then I would say… let the Commonwealth go. What is it to us? Our people are overjoyed, the land is ours. We are now the rulers and owners of Zimbabwe,” Mugabe declared, suggesting that the organisation had nothing to offer the country but meddling.

Iden Wetherell, then editor of the Zimbabwe Independent newspaper, remarked at the time: “Despite all the rhetoric, few doubt that Mugabe wants to be readmitted. He wants to strut upon the world stage. The suspension has been a huge humiliation for him.’’

Even so, was Mugabe right to suggest that leaving the Commonwealth would cost his Zimbabwean compatriots nothing worthwhile, except the dubious pleasure of watching their president strut his stuff at summits?

Champions of the Commonwealth do not make huge claims for the benefits of membership of the organisation. Yet they do insist it is worthwhile. The Commonwealth is unusual in that it brings together a few rich developed countries with many poor, undeveloped ones.

That provides a potential for the rich members to give a helping hand to the poorer members. And they do provide help.

It is not large amounts of aid that the Commonwealth offers. The Commonwealth Fund for Technical Co-operation (CFTC) is the organisation’s development arm.

Compared with those of many member states, its annual budget of about R300 million is small.

But that aid is leveraged through other resources, such as bilateral aid from richer member states, and about 40 percent of it is focused on Africa.

The CFTC is also a typical Commonwealth organisation in that its “assistance is targeted towards helping member countries acquire knowledge and institutional capacity to address their own development priorities”.

This stress on training and knowledge is common to much of the Commonwealth’s work. It offers people-to-people contact across its 54 member states and in a wide variety of fields, including training to government officials, business skills and scientific research.

The Commonwealth Africa Investment Fund also channels long-term investments to the continent.

Patrick Wintour, formerly of the Commonwealth Foundation, the umbrella body for Commonwealth civil society organisations, and now associate director at the Royal Commonwealth Society, says being out of the Commonwealth has deprived Zimbabwe of participation in Commonwealth Heads of Governments meetings every two years and the more frequent meetings of Commonwealth ministers in fields such as education, finance and foreign affairs.

This is where leaders deliberate the organisation’s key values and aims: building democracy, respect for human rights and the rule of law, resolving conflicts and promoting social and economic development. That is also a fundamental mission of the London-based Commonwealth Secretariat, the official heart of the organisation.

These values, ironically, are comprehensively enshrined in the Harare Declaration of 1991.

Likewise, Wintour believes that Zimbabwe is the poorer for its stance because over the past nine years, ‘‘high-flying military officers” from that country have not participated with Commonwealth peers from Nigeria, Pakistan, India, Kenya and so on in training at Britain’s Sandhurst military academy.

He suggests that the main benefit of this training would be to instil the values of democracy and civilian rule, which are key to the future of Zimbabwe, since the question of whether Mugabe’s military officers would accept real political change is crucial.

Again, these are precisely the sorts of values Mugabe would not want his top brass to uphold.

But if all these important functions of the Commonwealth hold no appeal for Mugabe, Mugabe is of course not Zimbabwe, even if he often acts as if he were.

Many other Zimbabweans, likely a majority, appreciate the Commonwealth precisely because it kicked Mugabe out and believe that in doing so, it added yet another bit of pressure for political change.

But, apart from losing out on these official activities, Zimbabwe has also lost the “opportunity to take part in fullest sense of Commonwealth organisations – for instance, Commonwealth Parliamentary Association, Commonwealth scholarships, Commonwealth Local Government Forum, and so on,” Wintour says.

Some tentative efforts have been made to restore Zimbabwe’s links to these Commonwealth civil society forums – of which there are about 60 – since the unity government was formed in 2009.

Wintour notes that four Commonwealth Professional Fellows, nominated by Zimbabwean civil society, visited Britain on a study tour in March.

Depending on progress in the unity government, these links could increase, he suggests.

An Australian official with considerable experience of the Commonwealth believes that even if he can’t say it publicly, even Mugabe has recently privately expressed regret that Zimbabwe remains outside the Commonwealth.

And, with a multiparty unity government (ostensibly) in charge, the range of opinions about the Commonwealth, even in the Zimbabwe government, is quite broad.

For instance, the Speaker of Parliament. Lovemore Moyo, a member of Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai’s Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), is known to feel regret that MPs cannot join the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association and so can’t visit other parliaments throughout the member states, to learn how they operate and to build solidarity among democrats.

David Coltart, a member of the smaller MDC and the education minister in the unity government, expressed the hope that Zimbabwe could return to the Commonwealth nearly two years ago when the subject was briefly raised at the Commonwealth heads of government meeting in Trinidad.

Despite this widespread yearning to return to the Commonwealth, experts do not expect the country to apply for readmission at this year’s heads of government meeting in Perth, Australia.

That is likely to happen only after new elections, and depending upon who wins, they say.

That’s how it happened with other members that were suspended or walked out and then were readmitted, such as South Africa, Pakistan and Nigeria.

But they note that even after elections, Zimbabwe might not get back in quickly, because the Commonwealth requires a country which applies for admission or readmission to demonstrate broad public support for the move.

If Tsvangirai, prime minister in the unity government, wins the next election, he will probably have to include some Zanu-PF members in his government, to discourage the military or the other security forces from interfering in politics.

If so, such a new government would find it hard to reach consensus on readmission to the Commonwealth because the Zanu-PF members might be against it.

If and when Zimbabwe does rejoin the Commonwealth, it could be a more useful organisation for its members, though, again in ways that might not always appeal to Zanu-PF.

An Eminent Persons Group (EPG) is studying ways of making the Commonwealth more relevant and increasing its effectiveness. Its recommendations will be considered by the Perth summit.

That the Commonwealth felt the need to improve itself in this way was an implicit acknowledgement that its benefits to members (including, potentially, Zimbabwe) were in some ways deficient.

Canadian Senator Hugh Segal, a member of the EPG, explained on a recent visit to South Africa that among the key recommendations are ways to strengthen the Commonwealth’s ability to ensure that its members uphold the organisation’s fundamental values of democracy, human rights, the rule of law and good governance.

The EPG’s draft report recommends that all the Commonwealth’s basic values and principles, which are scattered across various declarations, should be consolidated into a single charter.

The Commonwealth secretary-general would be explicitly mandated to ensure all member states uphold these values.

That would address the existing problem where secretaries-general sometimes feel they have to consult all the member states before criticising a member government for violating the Commonwealth’s values.

The problem has come into focus sharply with the current secretary-general, Kamalesh Sharma of India, who has been exceptionally reluctant to voice any public criticism of member governments.

Last year, he faced an interval revolt in the Secretariat, the British press revealed, because he failed to say anything about major transgressions, such as the Sri Lankan government’s slaughter of unarmed Tamil civilians in the last days of its defeat of the Tamil Tigers in 2009.

Sharma responded to the internal criticism by instructing his staff that his and their mandates did not include such criticisms.

If the EPG’s recommendations are accepted in Perth, that would change and he would be obliged to criticise such violations – “within a normal news cycle”, Segal said.

To help him engage transgressors, he would be given a special commissioner dedicated to protecting the Commonwealth’s political values.

The EPG has also recommended improvements in the Commonwealth’s development and training functions, sometimes in innovative ways.

Segal noted, for instance, that although the Commonwealth Games are probably the most visible activities of the organisation, they and the official Commonwealth have practically no links.

The EPG proposes to change that by recommending programmes for Commonwealth Games athletes to provide sports training for athletes from less-developed member states.

The EPG also wants the Commonwealth to beef up its efforts to fight HIV/Aids, for example.

And again it proposes tackling the problem via the organisation’s value system.

Segal noted that several member states still have anti-sodomy laws inherited from the colonial era.

These laws obviously discourage many men from signing up for Aids treatment so that the Commonwealth should engage those governments “robustly” to repeal the laws, the EPG proposes. – Independent Foreign Service

Standard and BBC Sport

Sunday, 12 June 2011

“Hearty congratulations to Andy Flower  for being award Order of British Empire (OBE),” twitted Senator David Coltart yesterday.

Cricketers Andrew Strauss and Alastair Cook are among the sports stars named in the Queen’s Birthday Honours list.

England captain Strauss is made OBE, along with team coach Andy Flower and golfer Lee Westwood.

Cook, player of the series in last winter’s Ashes win, athletes Phillips Idowu and Jessica Ennis and cyclist Mark Cavendish all become MBEs.

Four-time Derby-winning trainer Henry Cecil receives a knighthood for his services to horse racing.

There is also an honour for ex-basketball star John Amaechi, who grew up in Stockport before moving to the US and becoming one of the game’s biggest names. He is made OBE.

The 40-year-old became the first openly gay NBA player after coming out in 2007.

Among the administrators honoured are former Olympics Delivery Authority chief executive David Higgins, who receives a knighthood, and David Sparkes, the chief executive of British swimming, who becomes an OBE after overseeing a transformation in the sport.

Strauss, Flower and Cook are recognised for their achievement in winning the Ashes in Australia for the first time in 24 years.

• Zimbabwe Warriors – you beauties!! Well done Zimbabwe for defeating Mali today at Rufaro, Harare. That is the spirit – well done lads. #
• I have been advised that Minister Tendai Biti's house was last night attacked by unknown assailants who tried to detonate its durawall. #
• If report re Tendai Biti's house being attacked is correct then it needs to be condemned in the strongest possible terms. Hardliners stop! #
• Good meeting with DFID director today – prospect of more British funding for the Zimbabwean education sector – hooray! #
• I have just inspected the new airport building in Bulawayo – considerable progress being made – will be magnificent when finished in July #
• Small mercies – rubbish being collected again from our home today. Well done Bulawayo City Council for restoring basic services #
• Had a meeting yesterday with former Zimbabwean cricket test star Wayne James – doing great for up and coming stars in the Tuskers franchise #
• Hearty congratulations to Andy Flower for being awarded the OBE in recognition of his role in England's Ashes victory – well done from Zim #
• Pakistan mull having Sri Lanka cricket series in Zimbabwe http://t.co/cMUpu0p Great! I hope they do it as we would love to have them here #
• Sanctions waived, Zimbabwe Cricket will tour NZ next year – thank you New Zealand for helping our fragile transition http://t.co/p1ZdVpb #

Newsday

By Owen Muchena

11 June 2011

A school teacher speaks slowly using gestures to stress a point but only a small number in the class of 40 seems to follow him.

Some of the pupils are slouching in their chairs while others are gazing out of the windows and the teacher constantly exhorts them to sit up straight and pay attention.

“We often come to school without eating and when you are hungry it is difficult to pay attention to the teacher,” said Kudzai Hunda, a pupil at Kambarami Secondary School in Murehwa.

Rural dwellers in parts of Zimbabwe are battling to stave off huger after they lost their crop to the drought which ravaged the country in the last agricultural season.

Some children are forced to attend school – in some cases walking up to 10km on empty stomachs – while some families have withdrawn after failing to raise school fees. Most households are left with no food and income to pay fees.

Apart from affecting the food situation at home, the poor harvests mean families who pay their children’s school fees and incentives for teachers in the form of grain will not be able to do so.

Education minister David Coltart said the food shortages were likely to affect the pass rate this year.

“In rural schools, parents use grain to pay teachers’ incentives,” he said. “Now that we had a bad cropping season in some parts of the country, especially in the southern parts, parents are likely to face difficulties in paying the incentives.”

The government has intervened with a $12 million fund under which families deemed to be especially vulnerable will each receive $20 per month.

“The government has made a budgetary provision of $6 million for the harmonised social cash transfer programme, with donors contributing another $6 million,” said director of Social Services, Sydney Mhishi.

United Nations Children’s Education Fund said the programme will alleviate poverty and facilitate improved access to basic education for poor orphans and other vulnerable children.

To cushion the poor rural dwellers from persistent droughts, the government and other partners are said to be working to revive irrigation schemes.

The State availed $10 million in loans to A1 and communal farmers in Mashonaland Central Province to resuscitate irrigation schemes.

The European Union is also reviving irrigation schemes totaling around 1 700 hectares (43 schemes) set to benefit at least 4 000 households.

But the efforts still fall far short of the national requirement, with the education sector suffering most.

Coltart said incentives have helped boost teachers’ morale: “If teachers are not incentivised in this era of low salaries, they are likely to give a poor show,” he said.

He said an initiative by the government and donors to revive the education sector by supplying textbooks and exercise books was likely to be in vain as food shortages increase absenteeism and dropout rates.

“We have been doing our best to provide schools with learning material to up the pass rate, but this will be dented if students come to school hungry or not properly fed,” Coltart said.

Southern Africa has experienced droughts and floods in recent years and Zimbabwe has not been spared.

The effects have cascaded down to various sectors of the economy, with agriculture contribution to the gross domestic product compromised.

“We bemoan the situation considering that most of the rural people don’t have the capacity to buy grain,” President of the Chiefs’ Council Fortune Charumbira said.

The Grain Marketing Board is selling a 50kg bag of maize at $16, which is beyond the reach of many.

Charumbira called on the government to reintroduce the public works programme and food hand outs for the elderly and those who cannot perform public works.

The crop failure means villagers are unable to contribute to the zunde ramambo (chief’s granary) and this has left chiefs without food resources with which to help needy subjects.

Herald

11 June 2011

By Robson Sharuko

ZIMBABWE Cricket have re-launched their magazine, with a free edition that covers June and July, which they believe will be the ultimate supporters’ guide to the game in the country.

International Cricket Council president Haroon Lorgat believes this is a big development in line with the positive changes happening in Zimbabwe Cricket.

“The launch of a national cricket magazine may seem like a small development but what it shows is that there is a refreshed and renewed interest in the game in Zimbabwe,” said Lorgat.

“We hope the magazine will play its part in promoting the game and giving the cricket loving public an outlet for their passion.”

Dubbed PowerPlay, the glossy 50-page magazine, is being run by an editorial team headed by ZC communications boss, Shingai Rhuhwaya-Koti, who is the Editor-in-Chief, and veteran writer John Kelley, the AFP cricket correspondent in Zimbabwe, is the Editor.

Zimbabwe cricket team manager Lovemore Banda is the Copy Editor while its contributors include the cream of the country’s cricket writers – Dean du Plessis, Enock Muchinjo, Emmagness Zuze and Jeffrey Murimbechi.

ZC Managing Director, Ozias Bvute, said the magazine could not have come at a better time.

“It gives me great pleasure to introduce you to the launch issue of our new cricket magazine PowerPlay,” said Bvute in his introductory message.

“In the last 12 months, we have enjoyed immensely our dialogue with you through the media, email, our website and social networking platforms such as Facebook and You Tube.

“What has been evident in our communication with you is that the zeal for all things cricket is very much alive in Zimbabwe.

“There has been much for lovers of the game to savour, from the launch of the five domestic franchises, Charles Coventry’s dramatic record-breaking 194 at Queens Sports Club, the return of former greats like Streak and Campbell, the re-launch of the domestic T20, the signing of international clothing brand Reebok as our kit partner, the rise of Elton Chigumbura to national team captain to our announcement that we would be returning to the Test cricket arena this year.

“I am sure there would be plenty of talking points to come, which is why it is such a perfect time for us to launch this publication.

“It is our hope that it will bring hours of compelling reading and an insight into the cricket world often left off the back page of a newspaper or website.

“This publication is by and for the cricket community, a plethora of new and old generation cricket fans from every age, race, gender and social background.

“Zimbabwe Cricket tried this some five years ago and commissioned a sports magazine called Sport Light,” said Rhuhwaya-Koti in her introductory message.

“While we were sure about the thirst for information, we were wary that a purely cricket magazine might not have a big enough market in a society dominated by football.

“The publication, therefore, carried a blend of stories from the entire world of sport. That was then.

“Today we sit in an almost entirely different landscape. Today, cricket stands its ground as a mass market sport enjoyed and followed by experts and newcomers alike. In Zimbabwe it is a pioneer in the areas of administration, marketing and entertainment.

“Similarly, this magazine charts new territory, as the only publication of its kind in Zimbabwe that delivers cricket on and off the crease.”

Rhuhwaya-Koti said the game was also changing around the world.

“Worldwide, the interest in which makes an international game such as this tick has grown over the last decade and, in Zimbabwe especially, we are witnessing a growing interest in not only the history and development of the game itself, but the individual players and the lives they lead, those that work in cricket administration and those that support it financially,” said Rhuhwaya-Koti.

“Our aim with this magazine is to bring the world of cricket to your doorstep.

“Sports reporting in newspapers and on the internet has burgeoned in recent years, but this magazine is not about daily updates, it is about compelling journalism by some of the finest cricket writers available, amazing photography, cutting edge design and stories and hope and optimism for a country and the sport it loves so much.

“PowerPlay will offer a mix of big-name exclusive interviews from home and overseas, insightful profiles, humorous columns.”

Editor Kelley said there were exciting times in store for Zimbabwe Cricket.

“It seems an awfully long time ago but it is really only short years and months since the then Zimbabwe Cricket Union and the contracted players of the time went to war over team selection and pay disputes that resulted in sackings, strikes and boycotts,” wrote Kelley in an Editorial.

“Inevitably, the suddenly vanished senior players’ young replacements couldn’t cope and the curtain came down, not on our full membership of the ICC, but certainly on Test cricket.

“It was a war alright, entrenched and rooted with hostility that seemed impenetrable. But if Japan and the USA can eventually become amicable after Pearl Harbour and Britain become pals with Germany after the blitz and the holocaust, the incredibly quick healing process in Zimbabwe cricket can also be admired, even though tinged with astonishment in some quarters.

“It is a great truth that time heals, maybe not in seven days, but eventually.

“There remains plenty of comment and criticism below the surface but the swords are back in the scabbards.

“What shows in the sunlight above is a high level of enthusiastic sponsorship created largely by the emergence in circulation just a couple of years ago of the US dollar.

“With resulting financial backing from many business houses aligned to advice and support from ICC and encouragement from other friendly cricket countries, a first-class cricket foundation has been established as a springboard for speedy development, each aspect feeding off the others.

“Everything tat was so bad just a few years ago has been swallowed up and very largely brushed aside by the momentum of it all.

“The great sport of cricket has therefore won again, as it always will, Young cricketers in Zimbabwe want to play and, if possible, reach the top.

“They are not concerned with anything else, much less the convoluted history of cricket in Zimbabwe. And there is an irresistible mood across the whole spectrum to help them.”

Kelley said fathers now watch over their sons in schools and age-group teams and are desperate for their kids to play Tests for the country.

“Previous antagonists have either faded away or are still very much in place within the sport, their love of cricket overriding all else,” writes Kelley.

“They have all, to use inevitable clichés, moved on, drawn a line in the sand and recognised that looking and preparing forward is the only way to go from here.

“We have ambition but we are well aware that this must always be secondary to achievement and that applies to everybody involved in the game, from national captain to the tea lady.”

The first issue of PowerPlay revisits the 2011 ICC World Cup with Bvute answering questions related to how Zimbabwe performed and could the country rely on the current crop of players to take it to the next World Cup.

Then there is an interview with spinner Ray Price, who is rated by the ICC as one of the best bowlers in ODI cricket in the world, and has become the face of not only the team but the domestic game around the globe.

US ambassador to Zimbabwe, Charles Ray, also contributes a guest column and Kelley looks at the country’s journey back into Test cricket.

Sports Minister David Coltart also has a piece where he defends Zimbabwe’s Test return and there are articles on Vusi Sibanda, Tendai Chatara and Heath Streak.

The magazine features adverts from the game’s big sponsors and partners – South African Airways, Delta Beverages through their Castle Lager and Coca-Cola brands, Metropolitan Bank, Nissan Zimbabwe, Econet Wireless, CBZ Bank, Croco Motors, Interfin Bank, Schweppes and Premier Auto Services.