ZIMBABWE : EPWORTH KIDS LEARN IN A BUTCHERY

Simbarashe Choga, 65, retired as a teacher a few years ago to become a local local butcher in Epworth. But now he is back in education. This time as a principal of the primary school he runs out of his shop.


"My teachers keep their records and other materials at my butchery, which operates as our head office because, as you can see, there are no buildings here," said Choga. "We have a total enrolment of 182 pupils from the first to the seventh grades, and the majority of them learn outside."

Most of the houses in Epworth have no running water or electricity and the area is best known for its high levels of crime. Choga insisted that his institution had been registered by the local municipal authority, but said most of the schools offering primary and secondary education were unlicensed, and at the ministerial level even his school was not accredited.

This means that pupils at Choga's school have to sit their grade-seven examinations for entry into high school at other institutions that have been formally licensed by the education ministry.

Choga, who employs mostly untrained teachers, complained that they had to make do with inadequate books and stationery, and urged the government to register his school, "so that people like myself, and many others in Epworth and other parts of the country, can make education accessible to the underprivileged, who are too poor and lack learning facilities."

FIGHT OVER GOVERNORS

President Mugabe has a new crisis on his hands. The terms of office of the country's 10 provincial governors has expired. The MDC has found this out and is kicking a stink. The governors terms expired at the end of July, making the their positions vacant.

“The Provincial Councils and Administration Act provides that each term shall not exceed a period of two years hence their terms expired on 31 July 2010 and the ten former fovernors have no legal basis to act as being still in office,” an MDC spokesperson said in a statement.

He said in terms of the Constitution of Zimbabwe, new governors should be appointed following consultation between President Robert Mugabe and Prime Minister Tsvangirai.

The appointment of the provincial governors has already been one of the issues at the centre of a long-running dispute between Tsvangirai’s MDC and ZANU PF led by Mugabe.

The posts have been a cause for acrimony since the unilateral appointment of ZANU PF officials to the position of governor by Mugabe in breach of a memorandum of understanding signed with Tsvangirai and Arthur Mutambara of a breakaway MDC faction in July 2008.

The dispute over these appointments almost derailed the formation of Zimbabwe’s transitional government before the Southern African Development Community intervened and instructed the parties to come up with a formula for the representational allocation of the governors.

The parties subsequently agreed to share the positions on 5:4:1 formula, with Tsvangirai’s party getting the largest number of posts, followed by ZANU PF and Mutambara’s faction.

Mugabe has until now refused to appoint the MDC governors, insisting that he wanted the current terms of the incumbent officials to run out.

MABASA EMBANJE KUWANDA

Zimbabwean comedy at its best

MLISWA OUT OF JAIL

 
Themba Mliswa is today a free man after being released on bail from the notorious remand prison.

A day in prison is enough to destroy anybody. Mliswa spent weeks. He appeared to have been humbled by the experience. Some go as far as to say crushed and broken by his stint inside. Mliswa appeared in court a swaggering and defiant man, firing a broadside at Police Commissioner, Chihuri.

His assumed strong political connections were supposed to shield him from prosecution. Not this time. He had croosed a line. He should have asked Philip Chiyangwa or James Makamba.

When Mliswa left the swagger was gone and his tail was neatly tucked between his legs. He was just grateful to be out. Those who know him say he will lie low for a while, just enjoying the home comforts. The prosecution had said he was likely to abscond if granted bail. But his friends say he is staying put as he has profusely apologised to Chihuri and will be doing the same to the political connections who are very disappointed in his actions.

They say he is likely to reliquish control of the motor spares company that got him into trouble to secure permanent freedom. He will also stay away from the media spotlight. Mliswa has many friends in the media and business world who are fascinated by his charm offensive and risk taking.

But Mliswa is never far from trouble. He has been in the dumps before and has managed to climb out. He was kicked out of the UK and USA and is unlikely to return. Farming was his ticket out of the dumps the last time. This time, who knows.