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.”

The post Coltart predicts UNTWO disruption appeared first on Radio Dialogue.

The MDC-T has confirmed that the party will be holding their confirmation and primaries this week amid reports that the confirmation process for their provincial chairperson Gorden Moyo in Makokoba will be held this Tuesday.

According to an impeccable party source, the decision was reached at the party’s National Policy held in Harare.

The party’s primaries have been subject to controversy after they were postponed on a number of occasions with reports of factionalism and infighting that have dogged the party.

“We understand that the Makokoba confirmation will be on Tuesday while the rest of the primary elections are set to commence this Saturday 25 May, the party’s national organising team recently completed the verification of names for those in the electoral college, this paves way for the confirmation and primaries,” said the party source.

“The party mainly wants to now concentrate on campaigning thus the need to get rid of this phase as fast as possible.”

The source further mentioned that both the confirmation and primaries in each constituency will be supervised by members of the national council to avoid any rigging and to ensure that those selected will be the majority’s choice.

The party was forced to postpone primary elections that were initially meant to commence in April but as the fallout in the factional wars deepened disgruntled members pressured the leadership to revisit the party’s primary election guidelines, the party then set a new date, 4 May but again postponed the elections to an unspecified date.

The party’s deputy national organising secretary is on record stating that they would only announce the dates for the primaries after the conference.

The post MDC-T primary elections on this week appeared first on Radio Dialogue.

High ranking government officials including Deputy Prime Minister Thokozani Khupe, Minister of Mines and Mining Development Obert Mpofu and Minister of Trade and Commerce, Professor Welshman Ncube are some of the dignitaries expected to be in attendance.

Those attending the fundraising dinner will have to part with R700.00 per person (free sitting),  R2000.00 for persons willing to share a table with any of the dignitaries and R15,000.00 Premier tables for corporates with only 4 available  tables and 10 seats per table.

LSU acting Vice Chancellor, McClean Bhala said the main purpose of the fundraising dinner is to “seek funding through partnerships to facilitate for a full-scale relocation of LSU from Bulawayo to our designated site in Lupane.”

Since its opening in 2005, LSU has been operating from Bulawayo as the government has not completed building the campus in Lupane.  Due to the economic meltdown, government has adopted an open policy that allows the  development of universities through Public Private Partnership (PPP) arrangements.

“High on the agenda of our relocation exercise is the provision of accommodation for staff and students and also to ensure that these facilities are equipped with the appropriate amenities to make them functional,” Bhala said.

“Such services include clean water provision, proper sewage disposal and management, provision of energy and power to keep the operations running. These indeed are our anchor projects without which our relocation to site will be greatly compromised.”

Lupane State University was established by an Act of Parliament in 2004 and remains the only tertiary institution in Matabeleland North Province.

The post Lupane State University holds fundraising dinner appeared first on Radio Dialogue.

Mazibuko, in a press statement said they would commence grooming lessons on May 21.

“I have been in a long hiatus and it’s time I returned to Bulawayo’s modelling scene,” she said.

Mazibuko, the founder of the once famed Miss Rural Zimbabwe pageant said she has noted with concern at the mushrooming of modelling agencies countrywide “run by people who were never groomed”, who she said were “short changing Zimbabwe’s modelling industry.”

The former Miss Bulawayo said she would consult her peers in the modelling industry, Sarah Mpofu of Fingers Modelling School and Ricky Nathanson of Ricochet Modelling Agency.

Strides Models Zimbabwe will start off with a class of 20 students who will be groomed for an advanced modelling course which will include latest subjects like photographic modelling, manners and etiquette, driving and interview skills, subjects which are being over looked by new agencies.

“I have carefully selected my twenty students and those interested in my next intake can come for registration. I will not just admit anyone because I have a selection process. I will work with industry grads like Rick of Ricochet and Lucky Tshuma a renowned fashion photographer,” she said.

The twenty 20 students will graduate in August and the graduation will coincide with Mazibuko’s 40th birthday celebrations.

Mazibuko who has had her fair share of controversy said she has learnt from her past mistakes and will work hard on her image and reputation.

The post Strides Models Zimbabwe to reopen appeared first on Radio Dialogue.

The Progressive Teachers’ Union of Zimbabwe (PTUZ) has implored the government to ensure that politicians desist from using school premises as political campaign bases ahead of the upcoming election.

Speaking at the commemoration of the Global Campaign for Education in Bulawayo, PTUZ vice president, Nomalanga Hlabangana said schools should remain ‘political free zones.’

“We hope that government will take action against politicians who want to use schools for their campaigns. Schools should be declared political free zones,” she said.

Education minister, David Coltart last year said government had started crafting a legislation to bar political parties from using schools for their meetings.

Meanwhile, Hlabangana said government must urgently address issues related to teachers’ salaries and conditions of service as a way of improving the education sector.

Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Education, Constance Gwarimba, who was the guest of honour, in a speech read on her behalf by Phakasia Masike, Director of Human Resources and Development said the Ministry is committed to the provision of well trained and qualified teachers.

“The Ministry continues to make efforts to ensure the provision of qualified teachers to schools through regular engagement with the Ministry of Higher and Tertiary Education which is responsible for teacher training,” Gwarimba said.

“We will continue to fill the gaps by deploying graduates to vacant posts and also reappointment of teachers who had left the service. Teachers left the service in their thousands between 2007 and 2009. We invited them, to come back to the schools because we wanted qualified and trained teachers.”

The Global Campaign for Education is a civil society movement working to end the global education crisis. The celebrations in their 10^th year were held under the theme: “Every child needs a quality teacher”.

The Ministry of Education, Sports, Arts and Culture spearheaded the celebrations with stakeholders such as teacher unions, United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO), World Vision Zimbabwe, Education Coalition of Zimbabwe, students and teachers in attendance.

The post Declare schools ‘political free zones’- PTUZ appeared first on Radio Dialogue.