Churches beware of evil foreign interests: ED
Free education expected to begin next year
THE Church should continue pursuing its role of fostering peace and unity in the country, especially as the country nears the 2023 harmonised elections, but should be wary of being used as conduits to promote negative foreign interests detrimental to the country’s stability and sovereignty, President Mnangagwa has said.
Writing in his weekly column, the President said religious organisations remain a key partner of the State in promoting development and providing wise council.
He also gave assurances that the proposed Private Voluntary Organisations (PVO) Amendment Bill, which is in line with international best practices, will not curtail humanitarian work by churches and genuine non-governmental organisations (NGOs).
“It would, however, “flush out dirty money” being laundered through some NGOs and make Zimbabwe “compliant with international protocols”.
It is believed the Church now understands why authorities are working on the envisaged legislation after several engagements with Government.
“What the Bill seeks to do is to stop mischief which has often sought to take advantage of the poor and situations of need in the country. Additionally, it seeks to flush out dirty money, which is often laundered through some PVOs …Above all, it seeks to stop the subversion of national processes by foreign actors who often front political NGOs. Electoral
PRESIDENT Mnangagwa says Zimbabwe has been greatly honoured to host the International Cricket Council (ICC) Men’s T20 World Cup Global Qualifier B which will be held at two venues in Bulawayo starting tomorrow.
The President is presiding over the official opening ceremony that is taking place at Queens Sports Club today.
He was speaking soon after his arrival at the Joshua Mqabuko Nkomo International Airport yesterday evening.
Eight teams are taking part in the tournament where two slots are on offer for the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup in Australia later in the year.
“There is a cricket World Cup Qualifier here and there are teams competing against each other. Those that will conquer will then take to the Cricket World Cup so Zimbabwe has been highly honoured to host all these countries. I am very happy to see you here,” he told crowds that had gathered to welcome him.
The President, who was received with a thunderous welcome at the airport said he was glad to be in the city for the prestigious cricket event.
“I am grateful for your presence here today. I came here on the invitation of this young lady (Hon Kirsty Coventry, Minister of Youth, Sport, processes are solely for citizens; they should never come under the undue influence of outsiders who hold no legitimate stake in our country. To allow that to happen undermines our sovereignty and the integrity of those processes.”
Zimbabwe’s resource endowments, said the President, make the country an “attractive” target of nefarious foreign influence. Negative foreign interests, he added, usually seek to exploit societal institutions such as Churches to exert undue influence on the country.
“We must all be wary of this, including Churches. We already have reports of foreign embassies which seek to abuse their purpose and status here by mobilising religious organisations for political ends. That must be resisted, lest we are back to the Victorian ethos of Western expansionism under different guises.”
Ahead of next year’s harmonised elections, added President Mnangagwa, the Church must continue to engender peace and nonviolent political contestations.
He said the Second Republic recognises the prophetic role which the Church has always played in society, and in history. Describing the church as “the conscience of society”, he said: “it must be listened to, while its wise counsel must be heeded.
It propagates peace, amity and unity at all levels. At no time will such a role become more crucial than now as we drift towards our Harmonised General Elections, which fall due sometime next year.
Arts and Recreation) for cricket. There is cricket and there are eight countries participating, the United States of America, Jersey, Papua New Guinea, Hong Kong, Singapore, Uganda, Netherlands, those are the countries that are around,” he said.
Minister Coventry, the host minister who welcomed the President at the airport said it was an exciting time in the history of sports that they were having the President gracing the event.
“It is the World Cup Qualifiers for the T20 and we are excited, the President has been so supportive of the different sporting events. I think that now that it was also announced that Zimbabwe will co-host the World Cup in 2027, he wanted to come and officially welcome all the teams that are here and he will be doing that tomorrow right before they start the games on Monday,” she said.
Minister Coventry said she was particularly impressed that the games had come to Bulawayo.
“We are super proud and excited to be here and we are excited that he has come again to support us in the sporting atmosphere. We are glad that cricket has come to Bulawayo so that is really important and Zimbabwe Cricket has been doing a good job in ensuring that the different facilities are being looked after, so we are excited to be here and be a part of it,” she said.
President Mnangagwa in 2018 officiated at the welcome dinner for teams that took part in the 2019 ICC Cricket World Cup Qualifier also
LEARNERS from underprivileged and vulnerable communities will be the first beneficiaries of free education from the beginning of next year under a State-funded basic education programme following an extensive nationwide study to establish the costs involved, it has been learnt.
The three-study covering 20 schools – two schools in each province – sought to classify public schools by location and learners’ level of need, among other things. Our Harare Bureau has gathered that the programme will be funded through State grants to learning institutions that schools will receive in lieu of tuition and school development levies from parents and guardians.
In categorising schools for the purposes of the programme, institutions currently classified as “Group A” schools have now been reclassified as P1 (for primary schools) and S1 (for secondary schools). Missionary schools, currently classified as “Group B” institutions, are now classified P2 and S2 schools. Learning inst itut ions in rural areas and poor communit i e s (formerly Group C) have been classified as hosted by Zimbabwe. In 2021 he also officiated in the opening ceremony of the ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup Qualifier which was held in Harare. He has also hosted a number of sporting personalities and teams at State House, to honour them for carrying the country’s flag with pride.
President Mnangagwa was accompanied by Defence Minister Cde Oppah MuchinguriKashiri. Present to also receive the President were Deputy Minister of Youth, Sport, Arts and Recreation Cde Tino Machakaire, Minister of State for Bulawayo Provincial Affairs and Devolution Cde Judith Ncube and other Government officials.
The final of the tournament is on Sunday, 17 July at Queens Sports Club where the winner as well as the runner up will secure the remaining slots to the ICC T20 World Cup to be held in Australia later this year.
Zimbabwe are in the same group with Singapore, Jersey as well as the United States of America while another African team Uganda is in the same pool with Hong Kong, Papua New Guinea and Netherlands.
The fact that the Head of State is presiding over the official opening ceremony of the tournament should indicate to the ICC how serious the government of Zimbabwe takes hosting such events. In addition, Nicholas Singo, the Tuskers general manager has been working tirelessly to ensure that the two facilities are in pristine condition ahead of the tournament.
P3 and S3 schools.
Under the phased roll out of the programme, P3 and S3 schools will start receiving grants First Term next year.
The number of schools that are set to benefit from the first phase could not be immediately established as consultations with stakeholders in the education sector are ongoing. Government has, however, firmly committed to rolling out the programme next year.
Primary and Secondary Education Deputy Minister Edgar Moyo said a policy framework to guide implementation was being crafted.
“Our schools have been categorised in three distinct groupings for the purposes of giving them grants. The categorisation takes into account the location of schools. What we have done is looking at the unit cost of educating a child. I will not disclose that but we have already come up with a figure, which is still at the consultative stage. Primary learners have their own figure; the same as secondary school learners.”
Critically, learners at these schools will also be equipped with Information Communication Technology gadgets to facilitate remote learning. The gadgets are already being assembled by State-owned tech enterprise Zimbabwe Information Te c h n o l o g y Company (ZITCO).
Roll-out of State- funded education, he said, was informed by provisions of Section 27 of the Constitution, which enjoins the State to “take all practical measures to promote free compulsory basic education for children”.
Authorities are now exploring different funding models for the grants. Consideration is being given to three distinct models that include direct budgetary allocations, resources from the devolution fund and the constituency development funds. A hybrid financing model involving all three is also under consideration.
Added Deputy Minister Moyo: “We did a pilot project for three years which we called grant-inaid-of-tuition.
“During the pilot study, authorities selected two schools per province and asked them to forgo tuition and levies during the three-year pilot period. Government then directly funded schools for the duration of the pilot. It is from the pilot project that we deduced the unit cost of educating a child and, from this, the model of financing of the schools.”
There are about 4,6 million learners in close to 10 000 public schools countrywide. Minister of Information Communication Technology (ICT), Postal and Courier Services Dr Jenfan Muswere said Government had already begun connecting schools to the internet ahead of the roll-out. Zimbabwe Teachers Association (ZIMTA) secretary-general Mr Goodwill Taderera said the programme will guarantee universal access to education. Last year, Government used $2 billion to provide educational assistance to 1,2 million vulnerable children through the Basic Education Assistance Module (BEAM). This year, about 1,5 million learners are receiving support through a package that covers tuition fees, uniforms and stationery under BEAM.
President arrives for world cricket fiesta
The Church should preach peace and calmness in our communities and our nation so our elections take place in an environment of non-violence and tolerance.”
In addition, Churches should safeguard the sanctity of delicate national processes such as the ongoing healing process being undertaken to address issues arising from post-Independence disturbances that affected parts of Matabeleland and Midlands, said the President.
Religious organisations were urged to support initiatives that help foster peace, healing and unity.
“It has always been the Church’s view that durable peace comes from justice. The State, too, shares that view.
“This is why we have several Constitutional Commissions working towards that end.
“The Church must help Government protect that delicate process which can easily be wrecked by those seeking to profit from frozen animosities. Above all, it must help us avoid the recurrence of such conflicts in future.”
(For the full article by the President turn to Page 4)