The exhibition runs from 24 – 26 July under the theme “Extract Value, Boost Economic Growth”.

ZITF Company Deputy General Manager, Noma Ndlovu said, “On the foreign side, our agents in South Africa and China have been actively selling the exhibition, 10% of the exhibitors we have to date are foreign, mainly from South Africa. Last year at this time, foreign exhibitors made up only 4% of total exhibitors.”

Ndlovu said they are hopeful that the event will be successful given the response received to date.  Ndlovu said for the first time, the exhibition would be open to building and construction sectors as these are critical support sectors to the Mine Entra traditional sectors .

“Total space taken so far is just over 4,300 square metres, a 10% increase in space sales at this time last year and 65% of total space we sold for the 2012 edition,” Ndlovu said.

“For the first time, we are opening up the exhibition to the building and construction sectors as these are critical support sectors to the Mine Entra traditional sectors.”

“Hall 4 will have heavy engineering, conveyors and rubber products, electrics and electronics, automotive, pumps and equipment (exploration, blasting, drilling, breaking, crushing, lifting, earth moving, filtration, spares, welding), instrumentation, refrigeration and air-conditioning, switchgear, steel and steel products, tools and hardware.” she said.

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Eclectic performances by various arts organisations and schools from Bulawayo lit up the Bulawayo Theatre on Wednesday, the venue of the official launch of Culture Week.

The theatre packed to the brim with artists, students, teachers and arts enthusiasts witnessed various performances showcasing the various cultures found in Zimbabwe.

Traditional attires, songs, dances and chants exhibited how the country is richly endowed with a heritage which has been passed from one generation to the next.

Speaking at the official launch, Clemence Kunzekweguta, who was the guest of honour challenged the attendees to value their culture.

“Culture has not received the recognition that it deserves and the reason is that Africans as a people tend to look down upon their fellow men and also upon themselves. Lets stop this bad idea of looking down upon ourselves. Culture embodies every facet of our lives,” he said.

Kunzekweguta urged people to preserve cultural artefacts and value them over cheap imports that have flooded the country.

“Chinese people are so clever they are proud of who they are and they sell what they have. We have got our own artefacts which were made a long time ago and these have been passed down to us as a heritage. We dont value it, we would rather go and buy a cheap chinese product,” charged Kunzekweguta.

The commercialisation of the Zimbabwean culture has seen arts groups that include IYASA, Siyaya Arts, Umdumo Wesizwe and Black Umfolosi touring the world showcasing local culture.

Siyaya Arts, Harsh Touch, uMdumo Wesizwe, Thandanani Womens Ensemble, Kwabatsha Dance Company and the top 5 schools from the 2012 provincial Jikinya Traditional Dance Festival performed at the launch.

The Culture Week is commemorated in various provinces in the country, with one province chosen each year to host the national launch. This year the official launch was held at Murehwa Cultural Centre in Mashonaland East on Saturday May 18.

The celebrations run until May 24.

Bulawayo Province will host the 2014 national culture week launch.

The post Culture Week launched in Bulawayo appeared first on Radio Dialogue.

The three will automatically represent MDC T in the upcoming harmonised elections expected this year.

Mahlangu is the current MP for Nkulumane constituency, Cross represents Bulawayo South while Khumalo is MDC T Bulawayo East MP.

In an interview during the party’s structure verification process at the Bulawayo MDC T headquarters, Sibanda said the three Parliamentary candidates were unopposed.

“I can confirm that the three will not be challenged, this was ascertained during the ongoing structure verification exercise,” said Sibanda.

He said so far only four out of 12 district structures have been verified in Bulawayo.

“The process is very slow but we hope to conclude it well on time,” said Sibanda.

Other party Parliamentary aspirants present at the verification included Bulawayo Central MP Dorcas Sibanda and Magwegwe MP Felix Mafa Sibanda.

The party has of late been rocked by confusion with some candidates being barred from challenging incumbents in several Parliamentary seats.

The provincial leadership reportedly reversed a decision to bar Artwell Sibanda from contesting the Pumula seat in this weekend’s primary elections, the seat is currently being occupied by Albert Mhlanga.

More than 1200 candidates submitted their names for consideration to represent MDC-T in the forthcoming elections while over 200 prospective candidates were disqualified.

Thokozani Khupe’s factional ally and Bulawayo provincial chairperson Gorden Moyo was reportedly imposed for Makokoba ahead of Matson Hlalo.

The post Three MDC T MPs unopposed appeared first on Radio Dialogue.

The Matebeleland Civic Society Forum has called on the Registrar General’s office to ensure accessibility of services in rural areas as a way of encouraging citizens to obtain identity documents.

Civic society organisation representatives who spoke to Radio Dialogue say most villagers failed to register as voters in the just ended mobile voter registration exercise as they did not possess the required identity documents.

Masakhaneni Trust director, Dumisani Mpofu said Matebeleland is mostly affected because the few registration centres available are not easily accessible.

“I do not know whether such ways of operation are determined by a financial crisis or by the arrogance within the registry since they seem not to be closely monitored by the parent ministry, the Home Affairs Ministry,” Mpofu said.

Forum spokesperson, Dumisani Nkomo said the registry office should relax identity documents’ applications.

“The office should reduce on the requirements during the application process so that more people find it easy to obtain these identity documents,” Nkomo said.

Nkomo encouraged the villagers to make efforts to get the documents to enable them to participate in national processes.

The post Matebeleland CSOs call for easy access to RG office appeared first on Radio Dialogue.

It is reported that Mpofu’s widow, Sifelani rapped Zanu-PF officials for failing to make meaningful contributions towards her husband’s funeral.

She is quoted to have said: “You (Zanu-PF) did not help my husband with anything during the time he was sick and now you come here and try to order us around. This $1 200 that you contributed is paltry.”

Sifelani is understood to have proceeded to tell the officials that she was an MDC-T party member and was grateful to them for their contributions.

“When she said that, most officials began to move out of the hall one by one,” said Alderman Charles Mpofu, who was also present during the late Mika Parira Mpofu’s church service.

He said Sifelani was bold enough to challenge the “culture by Zanu-PF to champion their politics at funerals.”

Mpofu said Zanu-PF had indeed turned a blind eye to his old time friend Parira Mpofu during the period he was sick.

“She told them the truth, she is the only person whom I have seen challenge these people. This culture by Zanu-PF has been going on for some time, their contribution was too little given the role played by Mpofu as a councillor and as a Zanu-PF member,” said Mpofu.

Alderman Mika Parira Mpofu succumbed to diabetes at his Romney Park home in Bulawayo last Wednesday.

He was declared a liberation hero and was buried at his rural home in Zvimba.

Ald Parira Mpofu was elected to council in 1984 and was elevated to alderman in 1995 after serving council continuously for 10 years.

The post Liberation hero’s widow humiliates Zanu-PF officials appeared first on Radio Dialogue.

Bulawayo will tomorrow, Wednesday join the rest of the country in commemorating Culture Week.

The Zimbabwe Culture Week was officially launched at the Murehwa Cultural Centre on Saturday.

The National Arts Council of Zimbabwe (NACZ) coordinates the week long commemorative events around 21 May of each year to mark the day.

The Bulawayo edition of the cultural fete will be officially launched on Wednesday at the Bulawayo Theatre. The event will be graced by officials from the Ministry of Education, Sports, Arts and Culture, National Association of Primary School Heads (NAPH), National Association of Secondary school Heads (NASH), Arts Associations and various artistes.

The Bulawayo Theatre will reverberate in song and dance with expected performances from Siyaya Arts, Harsh Touch, uMdumo Wesizwe, Thandanani Womens Ensemble, Kwabatsha Dance Company and the top 5 schools from the 2012 provincial Jikinya Traditional Dance Festival.

In an interview with Radio Dialogue, the National Arts Council of Zimbabwe Bulawayo Provincial Arts Manager, Charity Nyathi said Africans should take pride in their culture and identity.

“We want to show the world that we are proud of our own culture. We want to identify with our own culture as Africans and also be easily identified through our attires, dances and our way of life,” said Nyathi.

She also disclosed that various activities have been lined up in the city.

“We will also be having various activities in schools such as Godlwayo Primary School, Lobengula Secondary School, SOS Children’s Village. The National Ballet Trust of Zimbabwe will also have an event at the Bulawayo Theatre and at Mpopoma High School. We will end our celebrations with the Bulawayo Comes Alive music festival at Masina Beer Garden in Luveve,” said Nyathi.

Culture Week was inaugurated in 2002 after it was discovered that the World Day of Cultural Diversity for Dialogue and Development is too short a period to celebrate culture.

This year’s celebrations are running under the theme, “Celebrating our African Traditions, Pride and Identity.”

The post Bulawayo celebrates Culture Week appeared first on Radio Dialogue.

President Mugabe is now expected to sign the new constitution into law and this will provide for a 30 day voter registration period before harmonised elections are held.

The mobile voter registration started on 29 April and ended on 19 May. Voter education started on 5 May, a week into the the voter registration exercise.

Presenting a joint statement on the mobile voter registration endorsed by fifty CSOs at a press conference on Tuesday, Women of Zimbabwe Arise (WOZA) director Jenny Williams said the process was hampered by a lack of information, publicity and limited voter education.

“We recommend that the process must be re-started in line with the new constitution which stipulates a 30 day period for registration after its enactment. It is our view that the preceeding exercise can not be a substitute for this constitutionally mandated process,” Williams said.

She said some of the voter registration centres did not adhere to the stipulated opening and closing times and this saw prospective voters being turned away.

“A comprehensive inclusive process must be undertaken with adequate financial and well trained human resources. This process must be effectively decentralised to ward level in each constituency.

“In some instances there were inconsistencies in voter registration procedures and requirements with some centres turning away prospective voters who were aliens while others accepted registrants with similar circumstances. Some centres were not issuing registration slips,” said Williams.

She said legal instruments guiding the issue of aliens and the use of an affidavit as proof of residence put in place recently should be well publicised to ensure citizens are able to fully benefit.

“As a precondition to the aforementioned exercise, the public must be adequately informed of the process, the requirements and the modalities prior to the commencement of the process,” said Williams.

The CSOs, Williams said, should have unfettered access to the voter registration process so that they pursue their legitimate functions of sensitising and mobilising citizens to participate in the process.

The organisations also called for an effective supervision of the Registrar General’s office by ZEC to safeguard the integrity of the process for with the electoral body is accountable to stakeholders.

CSOs who endorsed the joint statement include Bulawayo Agenda, Zimbabwe Electoral Support Network (ZESN), Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition, Combined Harare Residents Association (CHRA), Media Institute of Southern Africa, Women’s Action Group among others.

The post Civic groups dismiss mobile voter registration exercise appeared first on Radio Dialogue.

The Bulawayo City Council (BCC) disconnected the dam last week after its capacity dwindled to 2 percent.

In a notice, Senior Public Relations Officer Nesisa Mpofu said Upper Ncema was cut off last week on Thursday.

“Please be informed that Upper Ncema dam has been decommissioned with effect
from last Thursday, 16 May 2013 as the dam had reached 2%. This means Council is no longer abstracting from the dam,” Mpofu said.

“The balance of the water is now reserved for the dam’s aquatic ecosystem.”

The decommissioning of the dam is expected to worsen water availability to the city.

Currently, residents have to go for three to four days without running water.

By last week, Insiza Mayfair was 67 percent full, Inyankuni 6.2 %, Lower Ncema 58.5%  while Umzingwane was 32.4 percent.

The city is banking on the Mtshabezi-Umzingwane pipeline project to start pumping water to the city.

Mtshabezi dam is expected to add 17 000 cubic metres of water daily to cushion Bulawayo from rationing regime.

Council recently reduced the water-shedding schedule by 24 hours in some areas.

Initially water-shedding was 48 hours per week but was later increased to 72 hours per week.

The post Upper Ncema decommissioned appeared first on Radio Dialogue.

Professor Welshman Ncube speaking at a rally in Mahole, Nsiza South said it will not be feasible for the country to hold elections by June 29.

“We are getting closer to elections. If you hear us declaring that elections are getting closer we will be telling you the truth unlike some liars who, as way back as 2011 declared that the country will go for elections that year. They even went for their December conferences and swore that they will be elections. However, we dismissed that,” Ncube said.

“Now they are saying they will be elections in June. That is not true.”

Ncube maintained his stance that elections will either be held in August or September this year.

President Robert Mugabe and his party with the aid of the state media have gone on overdrive declaring that elections will be held on June 29, 2013.

Mugabe’s coalition partners Ncube and MDC-T President Morgan Tsvangirai have come out guns blazing, warning Mugabe that he has no power to unilaterally declare election dates without their input.

Ncube urged his party members to be vigilant.

“We must be well prepared, even the Bible says that Jesus Christ is about to return and he must find you ready. This August elections are coming. The choice is very clear, if you want to vote for witches its your choice,” said Ncube.

“These witches have been at it for the past 33 years. They are the ones who murdered your brothers and caused the disappearance of your children. Some of you have permanent injuries because of them.”

The post No June election- MDC appeared first on Radio Dialogue.

The Professor Welshman Ncube led MDC has disputed the June 29 poll dates proposed by Zanu-PF saying this would disrupt the United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNTWO) General Assembly to be held in August given that the elections may culminate in a run-off.

In a statement yesterday, MDC secretary for legal affairs Senator David Coltart said if Zanu-PF was to press for an election by the 31^st July there is danger that a Presidential run-off election will
be held in the middle of the UNTWO Assembly.

“Today is 20 May and accordingly even if the constitution is published today the special and intensive voter registration and voters roll inspection exercise will have to run for at least 30 days, that is until at least 20 June,” Coltart said.

Section 110 (3)of the Electoral Act states:

“Where two or more candidates for President are nominated and after a poll taken in terms of subsection (2) no candidate receives a majority of the total number of valid votes cast, a second election shall be held within twenty-one days after the previous election in accordance with this Act.”

Senator Coltart said this is a serious matter as the country’s national pride is at stake.

“In all the circumstances it will be clear that it is legally impossible to have an election before the end of July and our national interest dictates that because of this impossibility it would be
better to have the election after the UNTWO Assembly has concluded,” said Coltart.

“In any event given the chaos surrounding the current registration exercise if we are to honour the constitutional right given to every Zimbabwe citizen to vote then we must do everything in our power to ensure that all those who are eligible to vote are able to register.

“Given the huge numbers of people turned away during the current exercise and the funding limitations it seems highly unlikely that this fundamental constitutional right can be honoured within this minimum period of 30 days set out in the new constitution.”

The Minister of Education, Sport, Arts and Culture said it makes more sense to extend the period to ensure that all people eligible to vote are registered.

“This can be done if we take all the pressure off the current process by reaching a consensus to hold the election after the UNWTO Assembly has been concluded,” he said.

“Nothing could be further from the truth. The suggestion is motivated entirely by our need to comply with our own Constitution and laws and what is in the best of national interests of Zimbabwe and all her people.”

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