The Insider

The Member of Parliament for Mbizvo Settlement Chikwinya yesterday introduced a motion calling on Education Minister Lazarus Dokora to urgently convene a national summit to look at the deteriorating education in the country as well as to reverse his directives on entrance examinations for Form One and holiday lessons.

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Before, during and after the US Africa -summit one of the most frequently repeated factoids supporting the Africa Rising meme was that ‘seven out of ten fastest growing economies are in Africa.’ In reality this is both a far less accurate and much less impressive statistic than it sounds.  More generally, narratives on African economic development tend to be loosely connected to facts, and instead are driven more by hype.

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The announcement yesterday by Reserve Bank governor John Mangudya that Zimbabwe will import coins whose value will be at par with United States cents raises a very important question: What happened to the Reserve   Bank’s coin mint in Bulawayo?

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MDC says new maize price is a prescription for disaster- The Movement for Democratic Change today said the new maize and sorghum price set by the government at US$390 a tonne is a prescription for disaster because it will be cheaper for traders to import cheaper grain from the region rather than to buy locally. The party said, besides, Zimbabwe was the only country in the region with a grain deficit. All other states had surpluses with Zambia holding stocks in excess of two years of consumption. Prices in these countries were also way below the new price set by the government, the party said, adding that the government must allow local farmers to use genetically modified seed. “So long as the Zimbabwe government continues to deny Zimbabwean farmers security of tenure acceptable as security for bank financing, and continues to undermine land prices through its arbitrary and politically motivated land invasions, farmers will be unable to finance their activities on a sustainable basis,” the MDC said in a statement.  “These problems are compounded by the continued failure of government to get to grips with the ongoing banking crisis associated with the near total absence of liquidity. These fundamental problems are compounded by the refusal of the State to allow new GMO crop varieties to be provided to Zimbabwean farmers so that they can compete with their regional counterparts.  The consequences of this ill advised action by Government are far reaching – the State does not have the money to buy the crop at these inflated prices and the private sector will not be able to do so without running the risk of buying stocks that are overpriced. This means that the maize that remains on farms will not be sold this winter compounding their difficulties in financing the next crop.” Zimbabwe does not allow genetically modified foods in the country but they have been getting into the country somehow.

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Both houses of Parliament will resume sitting today after a month’s break.  Speaker of Parliament Jacob Mudenda and President of the Senate Edna Madzongwe issued a strong warning against errant ministers when the two houses adjourned on 24 July.

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The closure of SW Radio Africa this month was sad but also revealing. It was sad in the sense that this was the closure of one media outlet that gave alternative views, but revealing in the sense that the station could not sustain itself after 13 years of funding from donors.

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An opposition politician has finally said what people have been waiting to hear. There is too much talk about elections. People need to breathe.  Politicians should focus on fixing the economy.

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