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22	ANALYSIS - Zimbabwe media work space still a male domain - ZimFact Ngoni Mhuruyengwe September 16, 2019 Some female Zimbabwean journalists who took part in a mentorship programme jointly supported by the Humanitarian Information Facilitation Centre and the U.S Embassy. Picture credit: HIFC-U.S Embassy By Sibongile Mpofu Zimbabwe’s media classes are dominated by women, but the work space has more men. What is the story, and what are the issues at play? The battle for gender equity in newsrooms around the globe is a long and contentious one. This phenomenon is not peculiar to the media sector, but a symptomatic problem in wider society where women have generally been excluded from the workplace or rather continue to make up less of the labour force compared to men. What makes the media industry particularly unique is that journalism and media training institutions churn out more female graduates than male – in what some scholars term ‘feminisation of journalism’ – and yet this has not translated to gender parity in the labour force within the media sector. Empirical research has found that men continue to dominate in news production in all forms of media, despite the high numbers of female graduates. Earlier research by Margaret Gallagher, for example, shows that in 1995, women accounted for at least 50 percent of journalism and mass communication students in the 83 countries that were surveyed, including Zimbabwe. This figure has been steadily rising since then. Women dominant in school In the Southern African Development Community region, latest figures by the Gender Barometer 2018, indicate that female students make up 60 percent of enrolment in journalism and media studies training across the majority of the countries – in stark contrast to the proportion of women in media. In Zimbabwe, for example, of the 216 journalism graduates at the National University of Science and Technology, between 2015 and 2018, 135 of these are females, which translates to 62.5 percent. The situation is similar to that obtaining at the Midlands State University where females enrolling for media training are more than males. While exact figures could not be obtained, sources within the institutions revealed that in most courses, the ratio of females to males is 4:1. Similarly in the United Kingdom, the number of women studying journalism out number that of men. So, generally, there has been a steady rise in the number of women accessing higher education, which is something to celebrate – but with caution. The fact that women are accessing higher education is good – the problem then arises when it comes to the labour market. Therefore, the rising numbers of female graduates does not correlate to employment levels, as alluded to above. Studies have found that the marginal numbers of females working in the media are found in the lower and middle levels globally, the top positions including those of: publishers, editors, producers, and executives are still male dominated. What is the missing link? Clearly, there is a missing link that needs to be addressed. The bone of contention though for media scholars and activists has been that this positive trend in gender equality for women in higher education, particularly journalism education needs to be enforced in the labour market. Questions continue to be posed as to why females dominate journalism education yet newsrooms continue to be dominated by men. What is clear is that overarching economic and socio-cultural factors continue to reverse the gains attained for gender equality in higher education as long as women continue to be invisible in key positions in the labour force, and specifically in the media sector. The Zimbabwe story In the case of Zimbabwe, the fact that there are fewer women than men in the newsrooms in general, and in senior positions specifically, attests to the underlying problems in our society that still marginalise and restrict women to certain work spaces and positions, and not others. The gender-insensitive media environment force out or deter women to enter newsrooms and hence opt for other career choices. Lack of gender policies in media houses, for example, result in employers preferring men over women. Cultural impediments such as women travelling away from home and working in the evenings also stand as a barrier for employment of female journalists. “Softer programme” Therefore, Journalism, while at tertiary level is viewed as a ‘softer’ programme resulting in more females opting for it, different set of rules manifest when it comes to the labour market. It is quite glaring that power sets the rules for the game. Gender discrimination comes into play because all of a sudden, patriarchy reminds us that the media – because of its powerful role in society as the Fourth/Fifth Estate, cannot be led by women. Therefore, the playing field is not level. Masculine culture The masculine culture manifests more in the job market because this is the arena which separates and buttresses power positions between men and women. For example, according to the Gender Barometer 2018, of the 1 266 employees in four key media organisations in Zimbabwe, men held 933 of those compared to 353 for women. In the United States, Women’s Media Centre Report 2017, reveal that men still receive 62 percent of by-lines and other credits in print, online, television and wire services. Therefore, women are deterred from entering the newsroom due to varying factors, some of which have been empirically tested. Correction strategies To level the playing field, some of the strategies that could be employed are the implementation of gender policies in media houses, to institutionalise gender equality and equity. There is also a need for establishing close working relationships between media houses and media training institutions to support the former in the implementation and monitoring of gender equality and equity. In addition, more research on the contribution of male and female journalists to the media fraternity is needed so to inform employment policies. I believe these strategies among others, could assist in transforming societal views on the need to give equal opportunities to men and women. *Figures from NUST are for the undergraduate programme only. Dr. Sibongile Mpofu is a lecturer in the Department of Journalism and Media Studies at the National University of Science and Technology. FEATUREDgender	news-zimfact	2024-05-27T18:41:47.087066	September 16, 2019	{ "license": "Creative Commons - Attribution - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/", "url": "https://zimfact.org/analysis-zimbabwe-media-work-space-still-a-male-domain/", "author": "Ngoni Mhuruyengwe" }
23	ANALYSIS - Zimbabwe’s PVO Amendment Bill needs a win-win compromise - ZimFact Ngoni Mhuruyengwe April 29, 2022 By Earnest Mudzengi There has been extensive media coverage on Zimbabwe’s Private and Voluntary Organizations (PVOs) Amendment Bill. But some critical questions pertaining to the function and sustainability of PVOs still need to be addressed: Should PVOs, also referred to as Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) or Non-Profit Organizations be regulated? If there is to be regulation, what form should it take and what purpose should it serve? What is happening in other jurisdictions with respect to the regulation of NGOs? What is the best way to resolve the standoff between the government and NGOs over the Bill? On whether or not NGOs must be regulated, Grace Chikoto and Keledini Uzochukwa, in a study on civil society in Zimbabwe and Nigeria make a critical observation that “sovereign nations have the right to regulate activities and operations of civil society organizations in their jurisdiction.” This observation is in light of another by Ann Marie Clark, a development analyst who says CSOs have grown in influence to an extent that they can engage in non-governmental diplomacy that may diminish the role and stature of the state at national and international levels. Professor Jude Howell, Director of the Non-Governmental Public Research Programme at the London School of Economics is of the view that NGOs must be regulated “to check effects of the scramble for resources that pit one NGO against the other”, hampering solidarity and collective campaigns that promote inclusive development and social transformation. Money laundering argument There is also the imperative of regulating the operations of NGOs as a way of ensuring that they do not become conduits for money laundering and financing of terrorism. This, in line with Zimbabwe’s obligations as a member of the Financial Action Taskforce (FATF), is presented in the memorandum announcing the PVO Amendment Bill as the most immediate reason for the promulgation of the Bill. Other reasons for the Bill are presented as to enhance efficient regulation of PVOs and to prevent them from political lobbying. These sound like valid reasons for amending Zimbabwe’s current PVO Act. However, they need to be contrasted with what has been presented as democratic and developmental ideals in the regulation and function of NGOs. While some agitate for the self-regulation of NGOs, Maria Beatriz, a non-profit law specialist says there has to be a balance between self-regulation and statutory regulation of NGOs. As Beatriz argues, NGOs ought not to be an extension of government but should be helped in the “creation of their own spaces for access to public resources and participation in the integral formulation of public policies.” Non-partisan outlook? The idea derived from Jürgen Habermas, a critical theorist is that NGOs must be part of a civil society that exists as a public sphere, a free and neutral space that protects citizens from negative effects emanating from operations and dealings of political and business actors. As such NGOs ought to be non-partisan in their outlook, programmes and activities. They also need not be oriented towards corporate tendencies that betray public interest. In upholding these values or otherwise, governments across the world have come up with laws and policy frameworks that regulate NGOs. As said by Chikoto and Uzochukwa nonprofits in the United States are required to register with their respective Secretaries of State. However, registration is transparent and not cumbersome. Registration and state monitoring of nonprofits in the United States also comes with benefits that include tax exemptions, access to grants, crowdfunding eligibility and legal protection. With respect to Israel, a country widely considered a “First World” democracy, Maryam Zarnegar Deloffre, Professor of International Affairs at George Washington University makes a keen observation of how NGOs critical of government, particularly its continued occupation of Palestinian territories, are labeled “disloyal” and subjected to severe operational more restrictions. While China is widely considered among the most restrictive with respect to freedom of association, Leigh Anne Russel, founder of Nestworks, an NGO operating in Shanghai says government regulations on registering NGOs have become easier. Hard registration Yet proposed amendments to the PVO Act stand to make it much more difficult to register NGOs in Zimbabwe. As evidenced by how most NGOs in the country have had to register as trusts, not PVOs, the current PVO Act is already restrictive. The proposed Amendment Bill will even make it more difficult as it also provides scope for curtailment of trusts that f government authorization for any “material change” in their operations. This includes changes to boards, management staff and programming, new funding sources and amendments to internal documents such as constitutions and Deeds of Trust. Government is also to have power to designate any PVO as “high risk” or “vulnerable” with respect to money laundering and abuse by terrorists. This excessive power, according to a joint report on the Bill by human rights promoting CSOs that include Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum, Accountability Lab Zimbabwe and Southern Defenders, will allow government to revoke the registration or change the leadership of any NGOs deemed or classified by government as high risk. As the report further states: “banning CSOs from engaging in political activities is a broad and vague concept that could include legitimate human rights activities.” This provision is against a background of how government perceives NGOs to be pursuing a regime change agenda. The political embeddedness of civil society in previous instances gives some credence to regime change claims, especially when one factors civil society’s co-habitation with the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) prior to the setting up of the inclusive government between the ruling ZANU PF and MDC in 2009. Government also continues to be miffed by civil society’s forefront role in the 2000 Constitutional Referendum that saw government’s sponsored draft constitution being rejected. Together with the adversarial relationship between governments and civil society, which is described by as a perennial feature in African politics, these developments account for the current state of hostility and polarization surrounding engagements over the PVO Amendment Bill. What are the facts and figures? Should this state of affairs persist, the Bill risks being enacted in its current form, a prospect that jeopardizes jobs and other economic benefits flowing from NGOs. A monetary policy statement released by the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) early this year shows that NGOs stand as the third largest earner of foreign currency behind export earnings and forex remittances by Zimbabweans in the Diaspora. Up to 18,000 jobs, 1.2 percent of the country’s jobs that are accounted for by NGOs according to figures from Zimbabwe’s statistics agency (ZIMSTAT), are endangered. The tourism industry also stands to suffer from further disturbances that the Bill poses to the operations of the NGO sector. According to African Sun (Limited), a key hospitality group, conferencing business from NGOs has been helping city and country hotels to sail through tough COVID-19 times. This is over and above contribution to tax revenues and numerous poverty alleviation and social transformation schemes by NGOs. As observed through a policy brief compiled by Dr Tendai Murisa and Ebenezer Nobela of the SIVIO Institute, former President Mugabe’s legacy is also threatened as the enactment of the PVO Bill is set to adversely affect Community Share Ownership Trust schemes established through the former President’s Indigenization and Economic Empowerment policies. As SIVIO Institute further observes, the same applies to other community philanthropy organizations and initiatives such as community development trusts set by Zimbabweans in the Diaspora and other citizens to champion development in marginalized communities. Confronted with the question of jobs, Monica Mutsvangwa, Minister of Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services, recently told a post-cabinet media briefing that those who will lose jobs can go farming. As widely reported in both state and privately controlled media, Larry Mavima, the Minister of State for Midlands Province recently told an official gathering of heads of government departments that Zimbabwe does not need NGOs. “Let them go to Ukraine where there are people in need of their services. Here we are in a peaceful country. No one is bombing us,” Mavima is quoted to have said in remarks directed at NGOs. This sort of mud-throwing diplomacy will not help Zimbabwe in its economic recovery attempts, including government’s ongoing attempts at reengaging the West. Compromise solution Both government and NGOs need to find each other to come with an alternative regulatory blueprint that advances the developmental interests of the entirety of Zimbabweans. Author: Earnest Mudzengi is executive director of the Media Centre in Harare which offers freelance Zimbabwean journalists working space, facilities for Press Conferences and workshops and supports media development programmes in Zimbabwe.	news-zimfact	2024-05-27T18:41:47.087066	April 29, 2022	{ "license": "Creative Commons - Attribution - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/", "url": "https://zimfact.org/analysis-zimbabwes-pvo-amendment-bill-needs-a-win-win-compromise/", "author": "Ngoni Mhuruyengwe" }
24	Yes, 22 women are raped in Zimbabwe daily - ZimFact Ngoni Mhuruyengwe November 21, 2019 Zimbabwe Gender Commission chairperson Margaret Sangarwe CLAIM: Twenty-two women are raped daily in Zimbabwe, according to the Zimbabwe Gender Commission. VERDICT: True. Official crime statistics show that, on average, at least 20 cases of rape have been recorded in the country daily since 2014. According to NewsDay, the Zimbabwe Gender Commission chairperson, Margaret Sangarwe, 22 women are raped daily in the country. “Twenty two women are raped daily in Zimbabwe, one woman is abused every 75 minutes and an average of 646 women are being sexually-abused monthly and one in three girls is raped or sexually assaulted before they reach the age of 18,” Sangarwe is quoted as saying during an awareness campaign ahead of the commemoration of this year’s 16 days of activism against gender violence. Crime data from the Zimbabwe National Statistics Agency (Zimstat), compiled from police records, show a 74% jump in rape cases between 2010 and 2018. In 2010, 4,450 rape cases were recorded. Last year, there were 7,738 recorded rape cases. The 2018 figure translates to an average 21.2 rape cases per day. The first two months of 2019 recorded 636 rape cases in January and 625 in February. Since 2010, the highest number of rapes was reported in 2016, when 8069 cases were recorded, giving a daily average of 22.1. Conclusion The Zimbabwe Gender Commission chairperson’s assertion that “22 women are raped daily” falls within the ballpark of official crime statistics which show an average of at least 20 rapes per day. FEATURED	news-zimfact	2024-05-27T18:41:47.087066	November 21, 2019	{ "license": "Creative Commons - Attribution - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/", "url": "https://zimfact.org/are-22-women-raped-in-zimbabwe-daily/", "author": "Ngoni Mhuruyengwe" }
25	Are 7 out of 10 Zimbabweans living in poverty? - ZimFact Ngoni Mhuruyengwe June 11, 2018 Zimbabwe has been in economic decline since the late 1990s. In this economy, 38 years after independence, how many Zimbabweans still live under the poverty datum line? ZimFact went out to check the figures and see if they support the claim. Researched by Lifaqane Nare The claim was made by opposition political party Build Zimbabwe Alliance, one of the political parties contesting in the 2018 harmonised elections. Claim: 38 years after independence, 72% of people still live under the poverty datum line. Conclusion: Correct The World Bank defines extreme poverty as living on less than US$1.90 per day as of October 2015. Prior to that, the global line was $1.25 a day. It was projected that in 2015, just over 700 million people were living in extreme poverty down from 1.9 billion in 1990 when the poverty line was initially set at $1. The World Bank also has standards of poverty for people living in middle and high income countries. According to the Zimbabwe National Statistics Agency (ZimStat), the poverty datum line ‘represents the cost of a given standard of living that must be attained if a person is deemed not to be poor’. The poverty line is obtained by specifying a consumption bundle considered adequate for basic consumption needs and then by estimating the cost of these basic needs. The poverty line may, therefore, be thought of as the minimum expenditure required by an individual to fulfil his or her basic food and non-food needs. In most instances, consumption is seen as a better outcome indicator than income, since the former reflects not only the goods and services that a household can command based on its current income, but also whether that household can access credit markets or household savings at times when current income is low or even negative due to factors such as seasonal variation or harvest failure especially in agrarian based economies such as Zimbabwe. Closely related to PDL are the Food Poverty Line (FPL) and the Total Consumption Poverty Line (TCPL). The FPL describes the minimum value of food items that should be consumed by an individual per month and should satisfy that person’s dietary needs while the TCPL refers to the minimum value of food items and minimum non-food items consumed by an individual per month. In its Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper for 2016-18, the government points to the unprecedented economic recession of 2000 – 2008, in which almost half of the country’s real GDP was lost, international isolation and factors such as the negative impact of climate change on agriculture and the HIV/ AIDS epidemic, among others, as having all contributed to high levels of poverty in the country. Rain-fed agriculture under climate change is fast becoming a huge risk to food security. The data available from the Poverty and Consumption and Expenditure Survey 2011/12 is the most recent since the study is carried out every five years. While Government has, over the years, succeeded in halving the population in extreme poverty from 44 percent in 1995 to 22 percent by 2012, income poverty, as measured by the proportion of people whose income is less than the Total Consumption Poverty Line, in the country remained high, generalised, and almost constant at above 70 percent since 1995, as shown in the table below: According to the PICES 2011/12 survey, the average annual household cash income is $2 154, translating to an average monthly gross cash income of $180 per household. The data also shows that there are differences in the various districts with the 2011/12 survey showing that household poverty prevalence is highest in Nkayi district with 95.5 percent, and lowest in Marondera rural district with 52.3 percent. It also varies across provinces with Matabeleland North having the highest number of households in poverty at 81.7 % with 36.9 % of these living in extreme poverty. The latest ZimStat data on PDL from October 2017 shows that the TCPL for an average of five people per household stood at $521.81. This means that an average household required that much to purchase both food and non food items for them not to be deemed poor. This presented a 2.22% increase from the September 2017 figure of $510.48. The PDL also varies from one province to another due to differences in average prices per province with the TCPL being $469 in Midlands and highest in Matabeleland North at $571. Based on the official statistics, the claim by Build Zimbabwe Alliance that, 38 years after independence, 72% of people in the country still live under the poverty datum line is correct. The figure might be higher since these are based on 2011/12 data when the World Bank still used the $1.25 a day figure as a measure of poverty instead of the current $1.90 introduced in 2015. The PICES 2016/17 survey results are expected this year and ZimFact will update this fact report once they are made available. BUILD ZIMBABWE ALLIANCEPDLWORLD BANKZIMSTAT	news-zimfact	2024-05-27T18:41:47.087066	June 11, 2018	{ "license": "Creative Commons - Attribution - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/", "url": "https://zimfact.org/are-7-out-of-10-zimbabweans-living-in-poverty/", "author": "Ngoni Mhuruyengwe" }
26	Are 70% of Zimbabwean men raising children not their own? No, it’s not true. - ZimFact Ngoni Mhuruyengwe June 28, 2019 CLAIM: About 70 percent of Zimbabwean men are taking care or providing for children who were misidentified as theirs either deliberately or due to human error. CONCLUSION: False Explainer: The claim lacks context. Researched by Lifaqane Nare Most recently, an official with Expedite DNA Zimbabwe, Chapo Lunga, claimed in the Sunday News of 9 June, 2019, that ‘about 60 percent of Zimbabwean men are taking care or providing for children who were misidentified as theirs either deliberately or due to human error’. This claim around paternity discrepancy/fraud is not a new one in Zimbabwe. It has been made, on average, once a year since 2015 to 2019. The claims are usually made by the media and DNA testing companies. ‘Not their children’ The claims over the years have ranged from 30 to 72 percent of fathers who are looking after children who are not theirs. In 2015 , The Herald newspaper ran a story with the claim that ‘72 pc men duped on paternity’. In 2016, The Daily News had a story with the claim that ‘over 70 percent of women who claim maintenance from alleged fathers were paternity cheats’. In 2018, there were two such stories – one from H-Metro and the other from the Sunday News. The H-Metro claimed that ‘as many as 70 percent of men in Zimbabwe are probably not the biological fathers of children they thought were their blood’. The Sunday News claim was that ‘more than 30 percent of Zimbabwean men may be taking care of children who are not theirs as cases of paternity fraud continue to soar in the country where mothers deliberately misidentifies (sic) the biological father of the child’. The Sunday News carried another story, the latest one on June 9 (2019) with the claim that ZimFact is fact checking here. What’s wrong with this picture? The media stories on paternity fraud are largely based on figures from DNA testing companies and maintenance court cases. This means that the sample is drawn from men who already have doubts concerning the paternity of their children. The sample is, therefore, not representative of the population as a whole as it is very small and biased since the data heavily relies on men who already have a reason to have suspicions. The source of the statistics, the DNA testing companies, also have a commercial interest in pushing this narrative. The Sunday News identifies Expedite DNA Zimbabwe as a non governmental organisation when it is a biotechnology company. The Herald story speaks of a sample of 11 men directed to DNA testing by the courts as a result of maintenance claims disputes over a period of six months. Of these, 72 percent of the DNA tests were negative for paternity. The H-Metro story is based on figures from one DNA testing company, Global DNA. In the story, the company consultant says they handle between 50 and 60 cases per month and of these, 60-75 percent of cases come back negative. The Sunday News stories both use the same source, Expedite DNA, which claim a percentage of 30% in December 2018 and 60% in June 2019, which would be a 100% increase in 6 months in the number of fathers raising children not their own. Sampling experts Charles A. Ramsey and Alan D. Hewitt argue that ‘assessing sample representativeness is a critical component of any environmental investigation and should be performed before any conclusions are reached. If the samples are not representative, any conclusions or decisions will be incorrect’. What’s in it for DNA testing companies? The DNA companies run a business and it is in their best interests to encourage people to go for paternity tests. According to Expedite DNA Zimbabwe’s Facebook page, a prenatal invasive DNA test costs US$500 and the non invasive one US$1500, while the general paternity tests is US$215. The adverts for these services are accompanied by statements such as, ‘Men can never truly guarantee if they are the biological fathers of children without undergoing paternity tests. Expedite DNA Zimbabwe is here to give you peace of mind with affordable dna testing’. Global DNA Zimbabwe also offers services on their Facebook page. A Happy Father’s Day message on the page asks the question; ‘Is your child yours? Ziva chokwadi (know the truth)’. Contacted for comment, Ms Lunga confirmed that her statement is based on statistics of people who come through their laboratory for paternity testing and said she would not know how representative it is of the larger population. A website that deals with paternity fraud cautions against using these kind of statistics to generalise for the entirety of the population, ‘As to the frequency of paternity fraud, then there are no clear figures and one should be aware of often misquoted data from mis-paternity studies where subjects had a reason to take the DNA test. These statistics are valid in their own right but are not applicable to paternity fraud. The emotive headlines we often see in the popular press, which potentiate the urban myth of increasing paternity fraud in UK society, does us all little service and there is no verifiable evidence that paternity fraud is on the increase. However, it does occur.’ An article in a journal on measuring paternal discrepancy and its public health consequences, says it should be noted that the figures of paternal discrepancy in disputed paternity are higher than in populations testing for reasons other than disputed paternity. “For disputed paternity tests median levels of PD across 16 studies is 26.9% (interquartile range (IQR) = 16.7%–33.4%). However, being based on cases where PD was already suspected this inevitably overestimates population levels. For studies based on populations chosen for reasons other than disputed paternity, median PD is 3.7% (IQR = 2.0%–9.6%). While this is not a measure of population prevalence it does suggest the widely used (but unsubstantiated) figure of 10% PD may be an overestimate for most populations”. Conclusion The claim that about 70 percent of Zimbabwean men are taking care or providing for children who were misidentified as theirs either deliberately or due to human error is rated FALSE, because it lacks context. This claim is only true of men who have used the services at Expedite DNA Zimbabwe to check the paternity of the children they are providing for. However, the statistics are presented as if they are representative of all Zimbabwean men as a population. The sample is not representative enough as it is too small and based on the reports of one agency. FEATUREDOUR PICKS	news-zimfact	2024-05-27T18:41:47.087066	June 28, 2019	{ "license": "Creative Commons - Attribution - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/", "url": "https://zimfact.org/are-70-of-zimbabwean-men-raising-children-not-their-own-no-its-not-true/", "author": "Ngoni Mhuruyengwe" }
27	Are 80% of Zimbabwe’s teenage pregnancies above the age of majority? - ZimFact Ngoni Mhuruyengwe November 23, 2020 File picture of Kenyan children calling for the end to teenage pregnancies. CLAIM: Nearly 80% of teenage pregnancies fall within the 18-19 years age group. Source: Expert opinion in The Sunday Mail. RATING: MOSTLY TRUE. Official data shows that the vast majority of teenage pregnancies fall in the 18-19 age group, which is above Zimbabwe’s age of majority. A detailed breakdown of the data in the 2015 Zimbabwe Demographic Health Survey, the latest available, shows that 68%, and not nearly 80%, of all teenage pregnancies fall within this age group. Background: Zimbabwe’s teenage pregnancy rate of about 22% places the country in position 28 out of 54, with number 1 being the worst, on UNICEF’s early childbearing list. As part of efforts to reduce teenage pregnancies, rights groups are pushing for access to sexual and reproductive health services for adolescents and young women. Sexual health advocacy groups have made a petition to Parliament calling for the removal of the age of consent to access sexual reproductive health services. This drive has drawn mixed reactions, including by medical professionals. In an article carried by the Sunday Mail newspaper on 12 November 2020, Dr DavidzoyaShe Makosa, an obstetrician and gynaecologist who is a former Deputy Director of Reproductive Health Services in the Ministry of Health and Child Care, argues against the petition. In the article Dr, Makosa agues: “The majority of the 22% that is being flagged in the petition to parliament were 18- and 19-year olds, accounting for nearly 80% of teenage mothers.” Currently, in terms of Zimbabwe’s public health law, minors (persons under the age of 18), can only access health services with the consent of a parent or legal guardian. Some lawmakers, including the chairperson of Parliament’s health portfolio committee, Dr Ruth Labode, have argued that access to reproductive health services should be lowered to 16 year olds, since that is also the country’s age of sexual consent. “The issue is about minors’ access to health. Our proposal…was that, since we’re pushing the age of consent to 18, we need a provision for 16 year olds who, in terms of the current law, can consent to sex, to be able to access health services even without their parents,” Labode told ZimFact last year. “Because a 16-year-old is a minor, she cannot, for instance, get contraceptives or get STI treatment without her parents.” Teenage pregnancy rate: The Zimbabwe Demographic Health Survey report for 2015 shows a national teenage pregnancy rate of 21.6%, while the Ministry of Health and Child Care’s 2016 Zimbabwe National Adolescent Fertility Study states that “almost a quarter of women aged 15-19 years (24%) have started childbearing, i.e. have had a live birth or were pregnant with first child, increasing from 21% in 1999.” Proponents of the removal of age restrictions on access to reproductive health services cite this statistic, among others, as evidence of the need to extend access to persons under the legal age of majority, which is 18 years in Zimbabwe. Counter-argument: In her argument, Dr Makosa says the majority of adolescent pregnancies occur in the 18-19 year age group. Her assertion that these make up nearly 80% of total teenage pregnancies seems to be due to a statistical error in interpreting the data carried in the 2015 Zimbabwe Demographic Health Survey report. Analysis of the figures shows that 68%, and not nearly 80%, of all teenage pregnancies fall in the 18-19 age bracket. From the total 2,199 women in the 15-19 age group who took part in the survey, 475 had begun childbearing, resulting in the 21.6% teenage pregnancy statistic. From that number, 323 were aged between 18 and 19, accounting for 68% of total teen pregnancies. The Zimbabwe National Statistics Agency’s Multiple Indicator Cluster 2019 Survey, which found that the percentage of women with a live birth before the age of 18 was 22.8%, also backs up the assertion that most teenage pregnancies occur within this demographic. CONCLUSION: It is true that the majority of teenage pregnancies fall within the 18-19 age group, although, based on the cited data, the prevalence is not as high as 80%. FEATURED	news-zimfact	2024-05-27T18:41:47.087066	November 23, 2020	{ "license": "Creative Commons - Attribution - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/", "url": "https://zimfact.org/are-80-of-zimbabwes-teenage-pregnancies-above-the-age-of-majority/", "author": "Ngoni Mhuruyengwe" }
28	Are cancer cases on the rise in Zimbabwe? Here's the data - ZimFact Ngoni Mhuruyengwe November 13, 2020 CLAIM: Cases of cancer are on the rise in Zimbabwe. SOURCE: The claim was made in a report by NewsDay on September 26. The paper cited the deaths of politician Morgan Tsvangirai and activist Patson Dzamara, who both died of colon cancer, as well as a colon cancer diagnosis of politician Shadreck Mashayamombe. VERDICT: True. While the article did not provide data, cancer cases overall have risen over the decade, including those of colon cancer The death of Patson Dzamara on August 26, 2020, reignited debate around the prevalence of cancer in Zimbabwe. What does the data say? Data from the Zimbabwe National Cancer Registry (ZNCR), which collates cancer data in the country, shows cases have increased over the past decade. In 2009, a total of 3,519 new cancer cases were recorded in Zimbabwe. Cases rose to 6,548 in 2013 and 7,265 in 2016. In 2018, according to a report by the Anadolou News agency, citing ZNCR, 9,220 cases of cancer were recorded. However, a separate report by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), the cancer agency of the World Health Organisation, says Zimbabwe recorded 17,465 new cases of cancer in 2018. A total of 185 colon cancer cases were reported in 2016 by ZNCR, while 445 were reported in 2018 by the IARC. While numbers rose, colon cancer’s overall contribution to total cases has not changed materially between 2016 and 2018. It accounted for 2.6% of new cases in 2018 (WHO) and 2.7% in 2016 (ZNCR). Where are cases most prevalent? ZNCR’s 2016 report is the last most comprehensive report on cancer data in Zimbabwe. By province, cases in 2016 were distributed as follows: Bulawayo 15.3%, Harare City 35.2%, Manicaland 5.7%, Mashonaland Central 4.4%, Mashonaland East 13.5%, Mashonaland West 7.4%, Masvingo 5.2%, Midlands 6.1%, Matabeleland North 3.1% and Matabeleland South 2.9%. The origin of 87 cases (1.2%) could not be determined. Which is the most common cancer? According to IARC, the most frequently occurring cancer among Zimbabweans is cervical cancer, followed by breast cancer. Among women alone, cervical cancer made up 28.9% of cancers in 2018, while breast cancer accounted for 17.1%. For men, the most common cancer is prostate cancer, which accounted for 20.1% of all cancers in 2018, followed by kaposi sarcoma, a form of skin cancer, at 15.2%. Conclusion NewsDay’s report that colon cancer cases are rising is correct. Official data shows that the number of colon cancer cases has risen since 2016, in tandem with a rise in the number of cases of other forms of cancer.	news-zimfact	2024-05-27T18:41:47.087066	November 13, 2020	{ "license": "Creative Commons - Attribution - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/", "url": "https://zimfact.org/are-cancer-cases-on-the-rise-in-zimbabwe-heres-the-data/", "author": "Ngoni Mhuruyengwe" }
29	Are China’s vaccines under WHO probe after low efficacy 'admission'? - ZimFact Ngoni Mhuruyengwe April 15, 2021 CLAIM: The admission by a senior Chinese health official that the country’s vaccines have low efficacy has prompted a World Health Organisation (WHO) probe. Source: NewsDay article – “Chinese jabs under probe – WHO” VERDICT: Incorrect. The World Health Organisation is not investigating China’s vaccines after the official’s reported admission, which has since been refuted. Two Chinese vaccines, CoronaVac by private biotechnology firm Sinovac and Sinopharm produced by the Beijing Bio-Institute of Biological Products, are currently at advanced assessment stages by the WHO in terms of its emergency use listing procedures. All candidate vaccines go through this process, which does not constitute a ‘probe’ as the article sought to portray. What happened? On April 12, Gao Fu, head of China’s Centres for Disease Control (CDC), was quoted in several media reports, including the BBC, as having “admitted that local (Chinese) vaccines do not have high protection rates” against the virus causing COVID-19. Gao has since charged that his comments were “a complete misunderstanding.” “The protection rates of all vaccines in the world are sometimes high, and sometimes low. How to improve their efficacy is a question that needs to be considered by scientists around the world,” Gao said. “In this regard, I suggest that we can consider adjusting the vaccination process, such as the number of doses and intervals and adopting sequential vaccination with different types of vaccines.” On April 13, NewsDay reported on the implications of Gao’s remarks on Zimbabwe’s COVID-19 vaccination programme as the country was using two Chinese-made vaccines. “The success of Zimbabwe’s mass vaccination programme is under scrutiny after a senior Chinese official made a rare admission that its COVID-19 vaccines being administered in the country have a lower efficacy rate than previously thought, prompting the World Health Organisation (WHO) to launch a probe,” NewsDay wrote. The newspaper went on to quote WHO country representative Alex Gasasira as saying experts were already in China to study the Sinovac and Sinopharm COVID-19 vaccines. “Those are still undergoing evaluations by WHO, and until the experts give a comprehensive report there is not much that we can say. Experts from WHO have been sent to China for the assessment,” Gasasira is quoted saying. WHO Evaluation The WHO evaluation which Gasasira referred to is a mandatory procedure for all candidate vaccines, which was first developed in response to the ebola outbreak of 2014-16. The evaluation was not prompted by Gao’s comments. The WHO has not announced any mission to China for that purpose. WHO, through its Department of Regulation and Prequalification (RPQ), undertakes the emergency use listing process to guide United Nations agencies and member states on the acceptability, for purchase and use, of vaccines. The assessment is meant to provide assurance that candidate vaccines meet the WHO standards on quality, safety and efficacy. On March 13, the Strategic Advisory Group of Experts (SAGE), which advises the WHO on vaccines, announced that Sinopharm and Sinovac had presented data indicating levels of efficacy compatible with WHO requirements. To date, four vaccine candidates have received WHO emergency use approval, out of 19 within the global health watchdog’s evaluation framework. These are Pfizer-BioNTech, Johnson & Johnson and two versions of the AstraZeneca vaccine. According to a WHO schedule, emergency use approvals could be granted to Sinovac, Sinopharm and Moderna by the end of April 2021. All these vaccines are currently being administered after they received approvals in the various countries. For instance, while the Moderna vaccine is still under WHO assessment, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved its use in December 2020. CONCLUSION: NewsDay’s reporting that a Chinese official’s “admission” of low efficacy has triggered a WHO investigation into Chinese vaccines is erroneous as it is based on a disputed interpretation of what he said. The article is also based on a misreading of the global health watchdog’s mandatory vaccine evaluation process, which was already underway long before the contested “admission” was made. FEATURED	news-zimfact	2024-05-27T18:41:47.087066	April 15, 2021	{ "license": "Creative Commons - Attribution - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/", "url": "https://zimfact.org/are-chinas-vaccines-under-who-probe-after-low-efficacy-admission/", "author": "Ngoni Mhuruyengwe" }
30	Are vaccines safe for pregnant, breastfeeding women? Yes. Here's what science says - ZimFact Ngoni Mhuruyengwe May 18, 2021 With Zimbabwe’s COVID-19 vaccination being rolled out, some breastfeeding mothers have asked whether it is safe to take the vaccine. Yes, according to the experts. Dr Agnes Mahomva, the Chief Coordinator for COVID-19 in Zimbabwe, says it is safe for lactating mothers to take the vaccine. “Science tells us that vaccines that do no replicate in your cells do not pose any risk for lactating mothers and their infants. So, theoretically, breastfeeding mothers can therefore choose to get vaccinated,” Dr Mahomva says. What do others say? The World Health Organisation says: “WHO does not recommend discontinuation of breastfeeding after vaccination.” WHO also recommends the vaccine for pregnant women. America’s Centres for Disease Control (CDC), has the same advice for breastfeeding mothers and pregnant women. The CDC says: “Based on how these vaccines work in the body, COVID-19 vaccines are thought not to be a risk to lactating people or their breastfeeding babies. Therefore, lactating people can receive a COVID-19 vaccine.” Not only do vaccines not pose a risk, they also offer extra protection. This is according to a new study published in April. The study, published in the peer-review Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), found that a COVID-19 vaccination creates extra secretion of antibodies in breast milk for up to 6 weeks after vaccination. “Antibodies found in breast milk of these women showed strong neutralising effects, suggesting a potential protective effect against infection in the infant,” the researchers wrote. According to the report, no mother or infant experienced any serious side effects during the study period. Lancet, another leading medical journal, also says “there seems no plausible reason to recommend against vaccination for breastfeeding women. Antibodies generated in response to the vaccine should protect the breastfeeding women and the breastfed infants.” South Africa’s Health Products Regulatory Authority (Sahpra) also recommends the vaccine for both pregnant and breastfeeding moms. South Africa uses the J&J vaccine, also a “non replicating” vaccine like the ones used in Zimbabwe. Sahpra said on April 29: “The developmental and health benefits of breastfeeding should be considered along with the mother’s clinical need for immunisation against COVID-19. It must be noted that the WHO does not recommend discontinuing breastfeeding after vaccination.” Conclusion Scientists, including Zimbabwe’s COVID-19 coordinator, recommend vaccines for breastfeeding women. A recent study, in fact, found that vaccines create protective antibodies in breastmilk. Scientists also recommend vaccines for pregnant women. FEATURED	news-zimfact	2024-05-27T18:41:47.087066	May 18, 2021	{ "license": "Creative Commons - Attribution - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/", "url": "https://zimfact.org/are-vaccines-safe-for-pregnant-breastfeeding-women-yes-heres-what-science-says/", "author": "Ngoni Mhuruyengwe" }
31	Are white farmers mostly responsible for Zimbabwe’s recovering agriculture? - ZimFact Ngoni Mhuruyengwe October 31, 2021 Tobacco farmers in conversation during the start of the 2021 marketing season in Harare. Picture credit: Aaron Ufumeli/EPA CLAIM: White farmers are mostly responsible for Zimbabwe’s rebounding farm output. Source: Bloomberg News VERDICT: Incorrect. Available data shows that communal farmers, who have traditionally produced most of Zimbabwe’s staple maize, remain the leading producer of the grain and now also account for most of the tobacco output. Communal farmers are also significant producers of soyabean, accounting for nearly half the output. Bloomberg News, in an article headlined “Zimbabwe’s farming booms masks 20 years of failure”, claimed that: “Two decades after Robert Mugabe drove white farmers off their land, Zimbabwe’s agricultural sector is booming. The people tending the crops are, again, mostly white farmers.” The article also further claims: “Zimbabwean farming is dominated by large companies such as British American Tobacco and Innscor Africa that hire growers to produce on their behalf on a commercial scale.” Two decades after Robert Mugabe drove White farmers off their land, Zimbabwe’s agricultural sector is booming. The people tending the crops are, again, mostly White farmers. https://t.co/kyYUxbtRAF via @business What does the data say? MAIZE This is Zimbabwe’s staple grain. Maize production from the 2020/21 season was reported to be 2,7 million tonnes, the highest since 1984. Official statistics show that communal farmers, who have traditionally produced the bulk of Zimbabwe’s maize, had the largest sectoral output, at 988 782 tonnes. This was followed by the sector commonly known as the A1 segment, made up of communal farmers resettled on 6 hectare plots since the onset of the government’s land redistribution drive in 2000. The A1 farmers produced 706 372 tonnes of maize in the 2020/21 season. Combined, the communal and A1 farmers, segments that are overwhelmingly black dominated, produced 62% of Zimbabwe’s maize in the last farming season. The trend was the same in 2019/20, when communal and A1 farmers produced a combined 511 000 tonnes, or 56% of the total 908 000 tonne output for that season. Communal and A1 farmers’ contribution to maize production was 58% and 56% in the 2017/18 and 2018/19 seasons, respectively. The data shows that black farmers have accounted for at least 58% of Zimbabwe’s maize production. The contribution is higher, as this statistic does not include the output from black farmers in the commercial sector, whose data could not be disaggregated. It is incorrect to credit white farmers with “tending most of the maize crop”, as claimed by the Bloomberg article. TOBACCO Production of Zimbabwe’s leading export crop, tobacco, plunged to a record low of 48 million kilogrammes in 2008, down from the previous peak of 237 million kg in 2000, the last crop before farm disruptions brought about by land redistributions. Tobacco production has since rebounded, with a new production record of 259 million kg being recorded in 2019. The latest available data from the Tobacco Industry and Marketing Board (TIMB) shows that communal farmers contributed the most to tobacco production in 2018 (with 87 million kg or 34%), followed by the resettled commercial (A2) sector, which produced 74 million kg or 29%. Resettled communal farmers accounted for 71 million kg or 28%. Combined, communal farmers contributed 62% to Zimbabwe’s 2018 tobacco output. In 2017, resettled commercial (A2) farmers contributed the most tobacco (62 million kg or 33%), but the two communal farmer segments accounted for a combined 52% of output. WHEAT Zimbabwe is set to harvest 300 000 tonnes of wheat this year, according to a Cabinet statement of 21 September 2021. This would be the highest wheat production since 1999, when 324 000 tonnes were harvested. Wheat production, which is capital intensive, requiring mechanisation and irrigation, is almost entirely a preserve of commercial farmers. While disaggregated data for wheat production by sector was not immediately available, a Cabinet statement of 22 June 2021 said the government, directly and in collaboration with CBZ Agro Yield had financed 75% of the wheat crop. The private sector funded the balance. SOYA BEAN The area under soya bean has declined from 60 650 hectares in 1999/2000, to 46 158 hectares in 2020/21, according to Zimstat data. Production has also declined, from 135 417 tonnes in 1999/2000 to 71 290 tonnes in 2020/21. Zimbabwe still imports huge quantities of soya bean, due to low levels of production. A study by the Zimbabwe Economic Policy and Research Unit (Zeparu) showed that, in 2000, predominantly white large scale commercial farmers produced 98% of the country’s soya bean. By 2015, large scale commercial farms accounted for just under 9% of production. In 2015, resettled commercial farmers (A2), had the largest share of production, accounting for 45%. In second place was the resettled communal farm sector, which contributed 38%. Communal farmers contributed to 6% of the production. CONCLUSION: Bloomberg’s assertion, which credits white farmers for Zimbabwe’s “booming” agriculture sector, is not supported by the available evidence. Data shows that communal farmers, who are predominantly black, are producing the bulk of Zimbabwe’s maize and tobacco. Communal farmers are also producing nearly half the soybean crop. Black commercial farmers, with the assistance of government funding programmes are also contributing significantly to wheat production. FEATURED	news-zimfact	2024-05-27T18:41:47.087066	October 31, 2021	{ "license": "Creative Commons - Attribution - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/", "url": "https://zimfact.org/are-white-farmers-mostly-responsible-for-zimbabwes-recovering-agriculture/", "author": "Ngoni Mhuruyengwe" }
32	Are Zimbabwe’s exports half of Zambia’s? Yes, Eddie Cross got it right - ZimFact Ngoni Mhuruyengwe September 24, 2019 Eddie Cross CLAIM: Zambia’s exports are double those of Zimbabwe. VERDICT: True. Official data published by both countries bears this out. Eddie Cross, an economic commentator and a member of the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe’s Monetary Policy Committee, this week claimed that Zambia’s export earnings are double those of Zimbabwe. “We have mineral riches of every kind you can name yet our exports are half those of Zambia,” Cross wrote, as he argued that Zimbabwe was not utilising its economic potential. What does the data say? Official statistics from the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) and the Bank of Zambia Show that, over the past two years, Zambia’s exports have indeed been roughly twice as much as its southern neighbour’s. Last year, Zambia’s exports amounted to US$9,067.6 billion, more than double Zimbabwe’s US$4,264.7 billion. In 2017, Zimbabwe’s export receipts were US$3,665.2 billion, also less than half of Zambia’s US$8,142.8 billion. Zambia is Africa’s second largest copper producer, after the Democratic Republic of Congo, and is ranked among the top ten global producers. The country produced just over 861,000 tonnes of copper in 2018. The metal makes up at least 75% of Zambia’s exports. Copper recovered from its 2015-16 slump to reach five-year highs in 2018, driving Zambia’s export receipts. Cobalt is Zambia’s other major export. Zimbabwe, on the other hand, has a more diversified export profile. Gold, is the country’s leading export, followed by tobacco. Both commodities reached record output in 2018, but years of under-investment in both mining and agriculture mean the country is not fully exploiting its potential. Zimbabwe also exports nickel, platinum, chrome ore and ferrochrome. Conclusion: Cross’ assertion that Zimbabwe is punching below its weight and recording half of Zambia’s exports is true. EDDIE CROSSEXPORTSFEATUREDZAMBIAZIMBABWE	news-zimfact	2024-05-27T18:41:47.087066	September 24, 2019	{ "license": "Creative Commons - Attribution - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/", "url": "https://zimfact.org/are-zimbabwes-export-half-of-zambias-as-claimed-by-eddie-cross/", "author": "Ngoni Mhuruyengwe" }
33	Associated Press' tweet on Zimbabwe's COVID-19 vaccination is inaccurate - ZimFact Ngoni Mhuruyengwe July 24, 2021 On 23 July 2021, the Associated Press tweeted what it called a “virus update”. One of the highlights read: “Canada has high vaccine rate; Zimbabwe lowest.” Virus update: • Canada has high vaccine rate; Zimbabwe lowest. • Virus's impact in U.S: More relaxing and thinking, less socializing. • England’s virus rules relaxed to avoid shortages. • Opening ceremony of Tokyo Olympics begins. More @AP coverage: https://t.co/dpHsrtfb55 That same day, the American news agency had run a story comparing the roll-out of COVID-19 vaccination in Canada and Zimbabwe. Canada, like most developed countries, has managed to attain high levels of vaccination, while Zimbabwe, like its African peers, lags far behind. However, AP’s assertion, in its tweet, that Zimbabwe has the lowest vaccination rate is incorrect. In fact, data shows that Zimbabwe has one of the highest vaccination rates in Africa, doing better than continental giants South Africa, Nigeria and Kenya. In its article, AP describes Zimbabwe as “a relative success” in Africa, where only about 2% of its 1.3 billion people have been vaccinated. In Zimbabwe, 4.5% of its 15 million population had been fully vaccinated by July 23, according to official data, while 9% had received the first dose. FEATURED	news-zimfact	2024-05-27T18:41:47.087066	July 24, 2021	{ "license": "Creative Commons - Attribution - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/", "url": "https://zimfact.org/associated-press-tweet-on-zimbabwes-covid-19-vaccination-is-inaccurate/", "author": "Ngoni Mhuruyengwe" }
36	Bank note crisis: will RBZ cash imports help? - ZimFact Ngoni Mhuruyengwe May 15, 2018 CLAIM: The Sunday Mail this week reported that Zimbabwe’s bank note shortage would ease, following US$400 million cash imports by the central bank since the beginning of the year, as well as improvements in the production and sale of key commodities – gold and tobacco. Factchecked by Nelson Banya ROOT OF THE PROBLEM Zimbabwe’s current bank note crisis intensified in the first quarter of 2016, when long lines re-emerged at the banks for the first time since 2009 when the country abandoned its currency for the United States dollar, South Africa’s rand and other foreign currencies in a bid to tame hyperinflation. While the authorities attribute the bank note crisis to the smuggling of physical bills from the country as well as a widening trade deficit, economic analysts also add unrestrained government spending to the list of causes. Since dollarization in 2009, Zimbabwe has shipped out US$31 billion to pay for imports, against cumulative export receipts of just over US$20 billion for the period. Zimbabwe’s cumulative imports since 2009 reached US$31 billion in 2017, against US$20 billion exports over the period The country has lost significant production capacity, partly due to its industries’ inability to recapitalise and due to the relative strength of its adopted currency – the United States dollar – against major trading partners, especially South Africa. When Zimbabwe dollarized in 2009, the United States dollar was worth just under 10 South African rands. The rand weakened significantly, nearly touching 17 to the greenback in January 2016, further eroding the competitiveness of Zimbabwean products against those originating from its biggest trading partner. The rand’s weakness has also diminished its acceptability as a medium of exchange in Zimbabwe. In 2009, rand use rivalled that of the greenback, with each currency accounting for about 45 percent of domestic transactions each. By 2016, virtually all local transactions were being conducted in United States dollars. State spending has also spiralled, with government raking up a cumulative budget deficit in excess of $3 billion between 2014 and 2017, funded through its debt security of choice – Treasury Bills issued to banks. “As the principal and interest payments on these government securities are settled on the RTGS (real-time gross settlement system), it is clear that the government has been using the issuance of this debt to effectively print money,” London-based Exotix Capital Partners wrote in a 2016 note on Zimbabwe’s currency crisis. In effect, government had sucked hard currency out of the banking system, replacing it with electronic balances, Exotix, an investment banking and advisory firm focusing on emerging markets, noted. Bank balances with the RBZ, which stood at $112 million in January 2010, had risen to $2,6 billion by December 2017. Meanwhile, balances with foreign banks, which averaged US$500 million before the crisis, were down to about US$200 million in December 2017. Bank lending to government, which resumed in 2012, reached $2,4 billion at the end of 2017. GOVERNMENT’S RESPONSE In a bid to arrest the problem, the RBZ imposed cash withdrawal limits in May 2016, while reducing the cost of electronic banking. Government has also sought to improve the country’s export performance, while throttling imports. As a consequence of the crisis and government’s measures to promote alternative payment methods, the central bank says about 95 percent of all retail transactions are not going through electronic channels. However, the most significant move taken by government in response to the bank note crisis has been the introduction of a parallel currency – bond notes and coins – in a bid to ease the shortage of physical currency. The ‘bond’, which the central bank says is not a currency but a financial instrument, is pegged at parity with the United States dollar, although it trades at a 20 percent discount against the greenback on the informal market. The bond notes and coins derive their name from the bond facilities, advanced by the African Export Import Bank (AfreximBank), backing their issuance. The central bank says it has so far issued $350 million in bond notes and $90 million worth of coins, against facilities worth more than US$500 million from the AfreximBank. The introduction of the bond notes has shaken the banking public’s confidence in the financial system, further compounding the problem. Despite the authorities’ protestations to the contrary, the introduction of the bond notes has stoked fears of a return of a local currency and the memories of a Zimbabwean dollar ravaged by hyperinflation. As part of its response to the bank note crisis, the central bank has also stepped up the importation of physical bills, as reported by The Sunday Mail. WILL THE CASH IMPORTS EASE THE CRISIS? Last year, the central bank reported that it had imported US$100 million between January and June 2017, with private banks weighing in with US$40 million. RBZ governor, John Mangudya, told The Sunday Mail that the central bank had scaled up its bank note imports in the first four months of 2018: “I can say that we have imported cash of an amount of about US$400 million from January to the end of April. This is higher than what we did last year at around the same time,” Mangudya told the newspaper. However, although the physical dollar imports have averaged US$100 million so far this year, compared to the monthly average of just over US$23 million last year, cash issued at automated teller machines (ATMs) has averaged $4,22 million per week in the first 18 weeks of 2018, compared to $13,44 million per week over the same period of 2017, according to RBZ data. The data shows that cash access from ATMs averaged $56 million a week over the same comparative period of 2014, $71 million in 2015 and $69 million in 2016. CONCLUSION: Although the RBZ’s increased level of bank note imports, combined with tobacco sales receipts and a reported jump in first quarter gold production will improve the availability of foreign currency, it is misleading to report that “cash shortages will ease in coming weeks.” This is because the US$400 million cited is already in the economy, with no discernible impact on the bank note shortage situation. This is also because the economic fundamentals cited by Mangudya for the persistent foreign currency crisis – the twin trade and budget deficits – remain unresolved. Although Zimbabwe’s primary mining and agriculture sectors have shown signs of stirring, the manufacturing sector is still some way away from recovery, meaning the trade deficit will take some time to plug. Efforts to rein in government spending have also been complicated by wage increases awarded to state employees in recent months. Nelson Banya is Deputy Editor of ZimFact FEATUREDMANGUDYARBZ	news-zimfact	2024-05-27T18:41:47.087066	May 15, 2018	{ "license": "Creative Commons - Attribution - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/", "url": "https://zimfact.org/bank-note-crisis-will-rbz-cash-imports-help/", "author": "Ngoni Mhuruyengwe" }
37	Billion-dollar question: Investor interest and actual FDI - ZimFact Ngoni Mhuruyengwe May 4, 2018 CLAIM: President Emmerson Dambudzo (ED) Mnangagwa, who has positioned himself as a pro-business president since his November 2018 inauguration, has indicated that his ascension has coincided with an increase in investor interest in Zimbabwe. Factchecked by Nelson Banya On February 8, 2018, the Herald newspaper quoted Mnangagwa saying: “We have secured more than $3bn in foreign direct investment in just seven weeks. We want this country to move forward. We want jobs for our children. For a start, we are addressing the production levels of agriculture where we are modernising all forms of production. We will move into modernising the processing chain.” Addressing a church gathering in Shamva on April 25, 2018, Mnangagwa announced that investment commitments to Zimbabwe had increased to $11 billion. The Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation (ZBC) quoted the president, who is routinely referred as “ED” by the local media, as saying: “For the past four months, we have been discussing and realised that investment commitments have passed $11 billion as companies are angling themselves for mutual benefit.” FDI defined: The International Monetary Fund’s Balance of Payments and International Investment Position Manual (BPM6) defines foreign direct investment as international investment by an entity resident in one economy in an enterprise resident in another economy that is made with the objective of obtaining a lasting interest. The lasting interest implies the existence of a long-term relationship between the direct investor and the enterprise and a significant degree of influence on the management of the enterprise. Direct investment involves both the initial transaction that establishes the relationship between the two entities and all subsequent capital transactions between them and among affiliated enterprises, both incorporated and unincorporated. According to the IMF, a direct investment enterprise is an incorporated or unincorporated enterprise in which a direct investor that is resident of another economy has 10 percent or more of the ordinary shares or voting power (for an incorporated enterprise) or the equivalent (for an unincorporated enterprise). The direct investor may be an individual, an incorporated or unincorporated private or public enterprise, a government, or an associated group of individuals or enterprises that has a direct investment enterprise in an economy other than that in which the direct investor resides. The ownership of 10 percent of ordinary shares or voting power is the criterion for determining the existence of a direct investment relationship. Investment approvals versus commitments The Zimbabwe Investment Authority (ZIA), the state agency responsible for overseeing and licencing foreign investment into the country, routinely provides information on the value of projects it would have approved. However, ZIA does not provide data on actual investment, within the boundaries of the IMF definition of FDI. Nevertheless, ZIA’s statistics of projects licenced in the first quarter of 2017 show a wide gap between commitments claimed by Mnangagwa and approved FDI investments. ZIA chief executive Richard Mbaiwa told journalists at the Zimbabwe International Trade Fair that the agency had licenced projects worth about $950 in the first quarter of 2018. The Herald quotes Mbaiwa saying: “The enquiries that have come to ZIA have increased very significantly. If I look at the first quarter of 2018, comparing to the first quarter of 2017, you see a very significant increase. “In terms of projects that we have actually licensed, not those that made commitments such as the $4,2 billion by Karo Resources and others and not licensed by ZIA, I am not including those; I mean the ones ZIA has actually licensed, for the first quarter we are standing at just below a billion dollars. “The figure (for licensed projects) is about $950 million. In the first quarter of 2017 we were at about $150 million. So, you can see the difference, the jump. Normally, the first quarter is the slowest, especially in the previous years. When we had $150 million in the first quarter, by end of the year the figure would have gone up to between $1,5 billion and $2 billion,” he said. “So we think that this year, with the first quarter just shy of a billion dollars, we are quite positive that by end of the first quarter maybe we would have already surpassed last year’s total figure ($1,2 billion project approvals for whole of 2017). Expected Direct Investment (EDI) versus actual FDI Mnangagwa’s presidency has indeed seen a notable increase in foreign investor interest, as shown by several high-profile visits by investors, who include the chief executive of multi-billion dollar British development financier Commonwealth Development Corporation, Nick O’Donohoe, mineral fertilizer mogul Dmtry Mazepin, rated the 61 richest Russian by Forbes in 2015, Sergey Ivanov Jr, the chief executive of the world’s number two diamond miner Alrosa and mining entrepreneur Loucas Pourolis, chairman of the London and Johannesburg-listed Tharisa plc. Pouroulis signed a $4,2 billion deal with the government, to develop a platinum mine and refinery in the country. In February, a high-level delegation from US multinational conglomerate General Electric visited the country and expressed interest in the 2 400 megawatt Batoka hydropower project, which is estimated to cost $4 billion. During his April state visit to China, Mnangagwa also met Xiang Guangda, with the president’s aides announcing that Xiang’s Tsingshang Holdings – which lays claim to being China’s second biggest stainless steel manufacturer – was interested in setting up a $4 billion steel plant in Zimbabwe. Xiang already has interests in Zimbabwe through ferrochrome firm Afrochine Smelting, which was set up in 2012. In 2013, the Chinese firm was reported to be planning to invest in a power plant that would generate as much as 1 000 megawatts to supply its Selous plant, with the surplus power being fed into the national grid. Five years on, it remains unclear if Afrochine is still pursuing the power project. In an article he wrote for the Sunday Mail, presidential spokesman George Charamba suggested Xiang’s power plant ambitions had been frustrated by the previous administration: “But he (Xiang) has been knocking on Government offices for the past three years, to no avail. Still, he didn’t give up on us. “In that 30-minute meeting (with Mnangagwa), the investor was able to walk away with concrete commitments on all his requirements, opening the way for an early start to the project.” Another Chinese billionaire Zhang Li, who is considering investing over $1 billion in the Zimbabwe Iron and Steel Company, also returned, having first come to Zimbabwe in October, 2017, when he was hosted by former President Robert Mugabe. ZIA statistics of licenced projects, juxtaposed with data from the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), reveal a significant variance between FDI approvals and actual investment. The UNCTAD publishes an annual report on global investment, which provides details of FDI trends at the national, regional and global level. The UNCTAD’s World Investment Report is a widely used resource for FDI data. While ZIA has approved projects worth an average $1 billion annually over the past few years, Zimbabwe’s FDI has averaged $400 million since 2013. CONCLUSION: While ZIA data shows an increase in investor interest in Zimbabwe, with $950 million worth of approved projects comparing favourably with the annual average value of approvals in previous years, there is no evidence to back up Mnangagwa’s February claim, made at a Guruve rally, that the country secured more than US$3 billion in FDI in seven weeks as reported by The Herald. In subsequent pronouncements, Mnangagwa appears to be cautious as he talks about FDI commitments, not secured investment. As the ZIA and UNCTAD statistics show, approved projects and actual FDI investments vary significantly. As such, commitments to invest demonstrate interest but do not paint the whole picture. Author: Nelson Banya is Deputy Editor of ZimFact CHINAFDIMNANGAGWA	news-zimfact	2024-05-27T18:41:47.087066	May 4, 2018	{ "license": "Creative Commons - Attribution - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/", "url": "https://zimfact.org/billion-dollar-question-investor-interest-and-actual-fdi/", "author": "Ngoni Mhuruyengwe" }
38	Media bias in Zimbabwe election reporting - ZimFact Ngoni Mhuruyengwe June 27, 2018 Zimbabwe’s media coverage of the run up to general elections set for July 30 was largely biased and partisan in the first 10 days from the May 30 proclamation of the election date by the state president, according to a study by local organisation, Media Monitors. The following is a summary of Media Monitors’ report for the period May 31 to June 9 2018: In campaign news With proclamation of the election, the various political parties have intensified campaign activities. Campaigns take up the most of coverage of election related issues in the media. State controlled media The state controlled media have focused on the policy vision of Emmerson Mnangagwa’s campaign, his plan to revive the economy through industrial resuscitation, agriculture and foreign direct investment. Both the public print and electronic platforms do not critique the feasibility of his policies. This is however not the case with the opposition particularly MDC Alliance leader whose coverage has been reduced to analysis of gaffes made at rallies. The public media appear to be more critical of the MDC Alliance leader than any other leader. The MDC Alliance recently launched its 2018 policy document, which was broadcast live on ZTV from 11.30 hours to 13.00 hours. The policy document was much more criticized by political analysts who were quoted by the state media. MDC Alliance campaign activities that were covered on ZBC include its Wedza rally, the march for electoral reforms, the launch of its policy document and another rally at Mahusekwa Growth Point. Other political party campaign activities that were covered included a Zimbabwe Partnership for Prosperity (ZIPP) rally in Mbare and Forces of The Liberation Organization of African National Party’s Egypt Dzinemunhenzva saying the party is set to launch its manifesto just after the nomination court sits. There is little analysis and critique of these campaign activities. Twelve ZANU PF campaign activities were covered in the State-owned media. These included rallies in Gweru, Chegutu, Midlands, Masvingo, Wedza, Mvurwi and Chipinge. Other events that were covered included President Mnangagwa’s meeting with the Women’s League. This event was broadcast live on ZTV with Emmerson Mnangagwa’s speech being broadcast during primetime.Apart from rallies involving ZANU PF’s presidium, the government controlled media also gave coverage to aspiring members of parliament who include: Misheck Mataranyika, Tshinga Dube, Patrick Chinamasa, and Misheck Mangwende. The state-run ZBC enjoys a broadcasting monopoly and covers the ruling party more than any of its rivals Private media The private media gave prominence to the two political parties ZANU PF and MDC T.The private press covered six of the MDC Alliance’s rallies including those in Mutoko, Wedza, Mahusekwa and Nkayi. It should be noted that the private media are also critical of the opposition parties as reflected in the section on tone of coverage. In the private media, four ZANU PF campaign rallies were covered during the monitored. However, much focus was on Kembo Mohadi’s outbursts at rallies in Chegutu and Chiredzi where he claimed Zimbabwe is a one-party state and that the current leadership is a “junta”. Other ZANU PF rallies covered were in Mutoko and Gweru where Emmerson Mnangagwa presided. Commercial Radio In the commercial radio stations ZANU PF’s campaign activities received significantly more coverage than the other political parties.There was very little coverage on campaign eventsof the opposition parties. Noted was coverage of the ruling party’s rallies in Chegutu, Hurungwe East and the ZANU PF Women’s League meeting with presidential candidate Emmerson Mnangagwa. As shown above, coverage of campaign activities in the local media has not been equitable; the activities of ZANU PF and MDC Alliance have received the lion’s share of the coverage. The campaign trails of the two parties’ Presidential candidates have been followed closely by both the private and publicly owned media. New political parties’ campaign events rarely receive coverage across all platforms monitored. Since we are in the official campaign period there are a lot of campaign events that are blacked out by the local media. Objectivity in election related news The main challenge observed by Media Monitors in election related news is the lack of objectivity. Overall, 33 percent of the monitored reports were not neutral. Local commercial radio stations covered political actors in a more neutral manner than the other news platforms monitored. Eighty-eight-percent of their coverage of political actors was neutral. Reports that had challenges in neutrality were mostly one sided reports that did not give accused persons the right of reply or those that had a negative tone against particular political actors or parties. Hate speech Four instances of hate speech were recorded in the media during the monitoring period. Politicians were responsible for all four cases of hatespeech recorded. Language of hate was used during rallies targeting rival political actors and the international community. The media appears to be passive in its attitude towards hatespeech it covered, as it did not take a stand against the use of hatespeech by political players. Gender representation Over the 10 days monitored, representation of women political actors has been marginal on all the platforms monitored. Overall, women political actors accounted for 5% of the coverage that was recorded while men were featured in 95%. In the just ended ZANU PF primary elections only 22 women will be representing the party in National Assembly elections out of the 210 seats that are available. The print media gave relatively more coverage to women than the electronic media. CONCLUSION Reporting trends in the monitored print and electronic media in the first ten days since the beginning of the electoral period have shown that the local media still have a long way to go before meeting the requisite standards of fair and equitable coverage as stated in Zimbabwe’s Electoral Act. The distribution of space and time among political parties and actors is still skewed in favour of two political parties, ZANU PF and MDC-T (NC) and MDC Alliance. The media’s tone of coverage among the political parties appears to be polarised in favour of certain political parties. In the State-owned press which has a constitutional obligation to treat all parties fairly, ZANU PF has received more positive coverage whilst, the opposition parties have received coverage that is mostly neutral save for MDC-T (NC) and MDC Alliance whose coverage is negative. In the private press, ZANU PF has received more negative coverage whilst MDC Alliance has received relatively more positive coverage. Partial reportage by the media is unethical as it defies ethics of journalism. It also diminishes the electorate’s trust in the news media. Issues of fairness and balance not only address the representation of political actors; it also speaks to the representation of diverse groups in society who include women and youths. These two groups have been underrepresented in all the news platforms monitored. It is imperative that women and youth political actorsreceive equitable coverage in the media, as they are critical stakeholders in Zimbabwe’s political landscape. The media should reconsider the publishing of hate speech to avoid perpetuating discrimination and intolerance. In light of the above observations, Media Monitors notes that it is important for ZEC to develop an effective media monitoring mechanism that helps to keep track of the media’s adherence to the dictates of the Electoral Act. This would assist to address lapses in ethical coverage before they disadvantage political actors and members of the public who rely on the media for updates and interpretation of electoral processes. Media Monitors is an independent Trust registered under the laws of Zimbabwe. The organisation has a 18-year track record of monitoring the media, existing between 2000 and 2016 as the Media Monitoring Project of Zimbabwe (MMPZ) and re-branded to Media Monitors in 2017. The organisation monitors the media to promote evidence-based interventions for societal development. For more information contact us on 08677108362 or email us on mailto:[email protected]. ZimFact summary edited by Cris Chinaka ELECTIONSMDCmediaZANU-PF	news-zimfact	2024-05-27T18:41:47.087066	June 27, 2018	{ "license": "Creative Commons - Attribution - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/", "url": "https://zimfact.org/blog-media-bias-in-zimbabwe-election-reporting/", "author": "Ngoni Mhuruyengwe" }
39	Media ignoring real issues in election stories - ZimFact Ngoni Mhuruyengwe June 22, 2018 For the past eight years, I have earned my living from a buzzing workspace of journalists running in and out. It’s a lively hall of endless chatter, of arguments over politics, sport and about almost everything else. By Earnest Mudzengi In my role as executive director of Zimbabwe’s Media Centre, I juggle journalism and administrative duties in probably one of the largest newsrooms in the region housing freelance journalists. In this role, and after nearly two decades of teaching journalism and human rights advocacy, I have special, critical interest in news stories. Our latest debate in our Media Centre these days — and probably to the end of the year — is how the media is covering elections. The story of the day, today, and tomorrow, until the Zimbabwe elections are over, is the Zimbabwe elections story. In agony While I get to see, read and follow this story from a daily average of twenty or more journalists at the Media Centre, and from other sources, I agonise over the coverage. Like many other people, my primary expectation is that the media should be reporting on elections in ways that enable citizens to make informed political choices. From another perspective, I see the media as a mirror that should project the diverse needs and interests of the citizens in fair, balanced, accurate and objective ways. However, what I read, hear, see and surmise from stories in print, broadcast and social media alike are notions of a highly charged, polarised and partisan reportage; an elite-centric journalism that flushes away the citizen’s agenda and wish for democratic and transformative electoral contestation. Only Mnangagwa and Chamisa Notwithstanding a multiplicity of contenders, most stories across the media divide make it appear as if it is only ZANU PF and the MDC Alliance that are contesting the elections. I have just looked into The Herald, Daily News and NewsDay of 18 and 19 June 2018. Among NewsDay stories is one headlined, Of 2 Presidential candidates plus 2 others. As per this story, it is only Emmerson Mnangagwa and Nelson Chamisa who matter in the presidential race. The other 21 candidates; among them three women; are non consequential. What they stand for deserves no attention. Other stories are being sourced from rallies on a lock, stock and barrel basis. For instance, the Daily News of 19 June carries a story headlined, Hitmen Target Chamisa in which the MDC Alliance presidential candidate’s life is said to be under threat from state security agents. The voice in the story is none other than that of Chamisa addressing a rally in Victoria Falls. The same is the case in the story carried in The Herald of 18 June under the headline, Vote ED to conclude Operation Restore Legacy. The sole voice in the story is that of Vice President Constantino Chiwenga addressing a rally in Harare’s Mabvuku-Tafara constituency. Ignoring ordinary voices In these and most other stories, the voices of ordinary citizens are eclipsed as politicians are given acres of space to pontificate on political fantasies, while projecting their egos. This abounds across the mainstream media divide. In some cases, stories come with voices of so-called analysts and experts whose input dovetails into entrenched partisan positions. The impression thus presented is that this is not an election for ordinary citizens. The media are foregrounding an unfortunate narrative that this is an election by, with and for politicians. No issues As public shows dominate, pertinent everyday issues affecting everyday people have been relegated. Cash shortages still persist. Infrastructure has decayed. Social services in both rural and urban areas are in intensive care. But these and other pertinent issues are hardly being given the media attention they deserve. It’s as if all is mostly well and Zimbabwe is just having another routine election. What I observe from the social media scene is a case of mixed fortunes. While some social media spaces have been submerged in elite capture, some are still citizen media for real. In the later, the story is of expectant hope in which the July 30 elections are widely seen as make or break ones through which Zimbabwe can be salvaged from a socio-economic crisis that has persisted for nearly two decades. Social media spin Unfortunately, the captured social media are shattering the people’s hope as they mostly set the agenda for what is reported in mainstream media, which instead of being pro-active agenda-setters for democratic electoral contestation, tend to react to partisan agenda driven by self-seeking elites. Being in this state of siege, Zimbabwe’s media platforms do not exist as authoritative, objective and informative platforms through which citizens can be helped to make informed choices in the forthcoming elections. With the media environment leading to 30 July now being seen in terms of an almost lost cause, I look forward to a new dispensation in which the citizen, not the politician and mere voters, is at the centre of the election story. Author: Earnest Mudzengi is executive director of the Media Centre in Harare which offers freelance Zimbabwean journalists working space, and facilities for Press Conferences and workshops. CHAMISAELECTIONSMDC ALLIANCEmediaMNANGAGWAZANU-PF	news-zimfact	2024-05-27T18:41:47.087066	June 22, 2018	{ "license": "Creative Commons - Attribution - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/", "url": "https://zimfact.org/blog-media-ignoring-real-issues-in-election-stories/", "author": "Ngoni Mhuruyengwe" }
40	BUDGET 2022: Mthuli overstates health allocation - ZimFact Ngoni Mhuruyengwe November 25, 2021 CLAIM: Health allocated 14,9% of the 2022 national budget Source: Finance Minister Mthuli Ncube in his 2022 budget speech. VERDICT: Incorrect. The health allocation of ZW$117,7 billion is 12,7% of the total ZW$927,3 billion 2022 budget. Finance Minister Mthuli Ncube presented Zimbabwe’s 2022 national budget on Thursday, 25 November 2021. In total, the government plans to spend ZW$927,3 billion in 2022, up from ZW$509 billion this year. According to Ncube’s budget statement, the health budget for 2022 is ZW$117,7 billion. This is the third largest allocation, after agriculture and primary and secondary education, which got ZW$124 billion each. In his budget speech, Ncube claimed that the health allocation amounted to nearly 15% of the total budget, which would comply with the Abuja Declaration. “The 2022 National Budget has allocated ZWL$117.7 billion to the Ministry of Health and Child Care, which represents 14.9% of the Budget,” Ncube said. This is incorrect. The health budget actually accounts for 12,7% of the total ZW$927,3 billion planned expenditure for 2022. The Abuja Declaration is a commitment made in 2001 by African heads of state to commit 15% of their annual budgets to funding health. FEATURED	news-zimfact	2024-05-27T18:41:47.087066	November 25, 2021	{ "license": "Creative Commons - Attribution - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/", "url": "https://zimfact.org/budget-2022-mthuli-overstates-health-allocation/", "author": "Ngoni Mhuruyengwe" }
41	Bulletin: About Zimbabwe Elections - ZimFact Ngoni Mhuruyengwe June 17, 2023 You can download the PDF version by clicking here – FEATURED	news-zimfact	2024-05-27T18:41:47.087066	June 17, 2023	{ "license": "Creative Commons - Attribution - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/", "url": "https://zimfact.org/bulletin-about-zimbabwe-elections/", "author": "Ngoni Mhuruyengwe" }
42	Bulletin Issue 6: Chamisa faces trouble - ZimFact Ngoni Mhuruyengwe October 31, 2023 FEATUREDTRENDING	news-zimfact	2024-05-27T18:41:47.087066	October 31, 2023	{ "license": "Creative Commons - Attribution - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/", "url": "https://zimfact.org/bulletin-issue-6-chamisa-faces-trouble/", "author": "Ngoni Mhuruyengwe" }
43	Bulletin Issue 8: Who owns Chamisa’s face? - ZimFact Ngoni Mhuruyengwe February 16, 2024 FEATURED	news-zimfact	2024-05-27T18:41:47.087066	February 16, 2024	{ "license": "Creative Commons - Attribution - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/", "url": "https://zimfact.org/bulletin-issue-8-who-owns-chamisas-face/", "author": "Ngoni Mhuruyengwe" }
44	Bulletin: Sex pests in the media - ZimFact Ngoni Mhuruyengwe December 6, 2023 FEATURED	news-zimfact	2024-05-27T18:41:47.087066	December 6, 2023	{ "license": "Creative Commons - Attribution - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/", "url": "https://zimfact.org/bulletin-sex-pests-in-the-media/", "author": "Ngoni Mhuruyengwe" }
45	By-elections: List of candidates for March poll - ZimFact Ngoni Mhuruyengwe February 10, 2022 Here is a complete list of candidates participating in the National Assembly by-elections that will be held in 28 constituencies on 26 March 2022. National Assembly Source: Government Gazette	news-zimfact	2024-05-27T18:41:47.087066	February 10, 2022	{ "license": "Creative Commons - Attribution - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/", "url": "https://zimfact.org/by-elections-list-of-candidates-for-march-poll/", "author": "Ngoni Mhuruyengwe" }
46	No, Mnangagwa cannot legally extend his tenure beyond two terms - ZimFact Ngoni Mhuruyengwe December 4, 2019 President Emmerson Mnangagwa at the official opening of Parliament CLAIM: Senior ZANU-PF official, Obert Mpofu, has claimed that President Emmerson Mnangagwa can legally extend his presidency by changing the constitutional provision limiting presidents to two five-year terms through Parliament. VERDICT: Mpofu’s claim is erroneously based on the assumption that only Parliament can determine whether presidential term limits can be changed or not. This is not correct. Under the current Constitution, a sitting president cannot benefit from any changes to term limits and changing this provision requires a referendum, which takes the matter beyond Parliament. What did Mpofu say? Mpofu, ZANU-PF’s secretary for administration, is quoted by NewsDay telling Mnangagwa at a youth rally held in Kadoma on November 27 that: “Mr President, you can go beyond 2028 if you so wish because the issue of law can be taken care of in Parliament.” The newspaper reports that Mnangagwa appeared to share Mpofu’s view, telling the same rally: “We can change the laws … there is nothing that we want that cannot be done because we command two-thirds majority in Parliament.” What does the law say? The constitutional changes Mnangagwa would need to extend his presidency beyond two terms require not just two-thirds of the votes in Parliament, but a popular majority through a referendum as well. Having been elected in 2018, and assuming he gets re-elected for a second term in 2023, Mnangagwa would be ineligible to stand in the 2028 elections. The period between November 2017, when he was installed as former President Robert Mugabe’s replacement, and August 2018, when he was sworn in, does not count as a term as it is less than the minimum three years which count as a full term. Section 91 of Zimbabwe’s new Constitution, which came into effect in 2013, limits a president’s tenure in office to two five-year terms. Section 91(2) reads: “A person is disqualified for election as President or Vice-President if he or she has already held office as President under this Constitution for two terms, whether continuous or not, and for the purpose of this subsection three or more years’ service is deemed to be a full term.” At the time of drafting the new Constitution, former President Robert Mugabe had been in that position for more than 25 years and having served as prime minister for seven years before that. Mugabe’s extended stay in power, as well as his clearly undiminished appetite to retain it, was a key consideration for the drafters. They crafted a provision that effectively barred an incumbent president from changing the Constitution to extend his or her stay in power. “If, for whatever reason, they manage to do so (amend the Constitution), it cannot benefit the sitting president. We built it into the Constitution to work as a disincentive,” Douglas Mwonzora of the Movement for Democratic Change, who co-chaired the parliamentary committee which drove the constitutional reforms, told ZimFact. “So, assuming they somehow manage to change the provision, it can only benefit his successor.” This provision is carried under Section 328 (7), which reads: “Notwithstanding any other provision of this section, an amendment to a term-limit provision, the effect of which is to extend the length of time that a person may hold or occupy any public office, does not apply in relation to any person who held or occupied that office, or an equivalent office, at any time before the amendment.” To provide further safeguards against presidential term limit extension, the drafters of the new charter came up with a provision stipulating that Section 328 could itself only be amended through a referendum. Conclusion: It is incorrect to suggest, as Mpofu appears to do, that the extension of presidential term limits rests solely with Parliament. The 2013 Constitution has a provision which disqualifies a sitting president from benefiting from any changes to the stipulated terms of office. Any changes to this clause requires popular support measured through a referendum. This takes the matter beyond Parliament. FEATURED	news-zimfact	2024-05-27T18:41:47.087066	December 4, 2019	{ "license": "Creative Commons - Attribution - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/", "url": "https://zimfact.org/can-mnangagwa-legally-extend-his-tenure-beyond-two-terms/", "author": "Ngoni Mhuruyengwe" }
47	Can private companies now import vaccines into Zimbabwe? Here are the facts - ZimFact Ngoni Mhuruyengwe February 26, 2021 On February 25, ZBC ran a story with the headline: “Private players can now import vaccines: Govt”. The headline alone drew some outrage on social media. But what did the Government really say? Speaking in Parliament on Wednesday, February 24, Deputy Health Minister John Mangwiro said private companies can pay to bring in vaccines. However, importantly, he set conditions under which this can happen; procurement can only be done through the Ministry of Finance and not by the companies themselves, only locally registered vaccines can be brought in, and such vaccines must be given for free. Harare East MP Tendai Biti had asked Mangwiro why private companies could not import on their own, with government only playing a regulatory role. Said Biti: “In view of the fact that the country has only imported 200,000 Sinopharm vaccines against a population of around 16 million, would it not be prudent that the drugs control council of Zimbabwe registered other vaccines approved by the WHO – the Russian Sputnik V, Sinovac, AstraZeneca, Modern, Johnson & Johnson, Pfizer – to allow medical aid societies, pension funds, trade unions, big corporations such as Delta and Econet, to import these registered drugs with the Ministry then playing a regulatory role to ensure that our people are safe?” Mangwiro responded, saying government was at various stages of registering more vaccines, in addition to Sinopharm. “We have said they (private firms) are welcome; they bring in their money, tell us what they want to do, but they buy via the Ministry of Finance so that all the vaccines that are bought are registered in the country.” Mangwiro added that any vaccines paid for by private companies would have to be given for free to either workers or members of medical aid companies. He said: “We also want to make sure that Zimbabweans get this vaccine for free, no matter the level.” Conclusion Zimbabwean companies will be able to pay for COVID-19 vaccine imports. However, all procurement will be done on their behalf by government. Only vaccines registered in Zimbabwe can be brought in, and all vaccines must be free. FEATURED	news-zimfact	2024-05-27T18:41:47.087066	February 26, 2021	{ "license": "Creative Commons - Attribution - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/", "url": "https://zimfact.org/can-private-companies-now-import-vaccines-into-zimbabwe-here-are-the-facts/", "author": "Ngoni Mhuruyengwe" }
48	Can Zimbabwe deliver free, fair and credible elections? - ZimFact Ngoni Mhuruyengwe March 29, 2018 By Cris Chinaka In the wake of highly disputed national elections over the last 20 years, President Emmerson Mnangagwa has pledged that Zimbabwe will hold free, fair and credible parliamentary, presidential and council polls this year. What are the minimum conditions set by the Southern African Development Community (SADC) towards the achievement of such elections?: The SADC Principles and Guidelines Governing Democratic Elections in the SADC Region (2015) sets out comprehensively elements that SADC observer missions use in passing a verdict on elections in the region. These include the political environment, legal framework, assessment of citizen rights, election administration/funding/staffing, state of voters’ roll, conduct of political parties and role of the media. A SADC Election Observer Mission will judge the forthcoming Zimbabwe elections under its global definitions that: “Credible elections” means ‘electoral processes enjoy considerable support and confidence of the citizenry and international or regional community, leading to mutually agreeable results from competing entities that participate actively in the electoral process.’ “Democratic elections” means, ‘competitive, periodic, inclusive, regular elections in which persons to hold office at all levels of government are elected, through the secret ballot, by citizens who broadly enjoy fundamental human rights and freedoms.’ “Free (elections)” means ‘Fundamental human rights and freedoms are adhered to during electoral processes, including freedom of speech and expression of the electoral stakeholders; and freedom of assembly and association; and that freedom of access to information and right to transmit and receive political messages by citizens is upheld; that the principles of equal and universal adult suffrage are observed, in addition to the voter’s right to exercise their franchise in secret and register their complaints without undue restrictions or repercussions.’ “Peaceful” means “electoral processes are punctuated by calm; are undisturbed and untroubled by violence or intimidation; are conflict-free and generally exude an atmosphere where all citizens are free and unhindered to express their right to vote; are able to offer themselves without intimidation for election, communicate freely their electoral choices; and enjoy freedom of assembly and association.’ “Fair (elections)” means ‘electoral processes that are conducted in conformity with established rules and regulations, managed by an impartial, non-partisan professional and competent Electoral Management Body (EMB); in an atmosphere characterised by respect for the rule of law; guaranteed rights of protection for citizens through the electoral law and the constitution and reasonable opportunities for voters to transmit and receive voter information; defined by equitable access to financial and material resources for all political parties and independent candidates in accordance with the national laws; and where there is no violence, intimidation or discrimination based on race, gender, ethnicity, religious or other considerations specified in these SADC Principles and Guidelines Governing Democratic Elections. “Transparent” means ‘elections are operated in an open, clear, visible and unhindered manner.’ ELECTIONSMNANGAGWAPoliticsSADC	news-zimfact	2024-05-27T18:41:47.087066	March 29, 2018	{ "license": "Creative Commons - Attribution - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/", "url": "https://zimfact.org/can-zimbabwe-deliver-a-free-fair-and-credible-elections-2/", "author": "Ngoni Mhuruyengwe" }
79	Charamba's claim on vaccines is misleading - ZimFact Ngoni Mhuruyengwe July 21, 2021 CLAIM: Chinese, Russian and Indian COVID-19 vaccines registered for use in Zimbabwe have all been approved by the World Health Organisation and are part of the Covax scheme. Source: Presidential spokesperson George Charamba, via Twitter. RATING: Misleading. Only the two Chinese vaccines – Sinovac and Sinopharm – have received WHO approval. Russia’s Sputnik V and India’s Covaxin, the other vaccines approved by Zimbabwe, are yet to get WHO emergency use listing. Covax has indeed signed a deal to include the two Chinese vaccines in its scheme, but has not done so for Sputnik V and Covaxin. In a series of tweets on the country’s COVID-19 vaccination programme, presidential spokesperson George Charamba – who uses the @Jamwanda2 handle – claimed that all four vaccines which have been registered for use in Zimbabwe had been similarly cleared by the World Health Organisation (WHO). He further claimed that the vaccines were now “part of the Covax menu.” The US Embassy strategy has been to desperately stampede the Ministry of Health to allow Govt to accept importation and administration of those unregistered vaccines, using Covax facility. This would then provide cover to this political donation. Unfortunately for them, Chinese, Russian and Indian vaccines which are now registered for use in the country, are now registered with the WHO, making them part of the Covax menu. Zimbabwe insists that any assistance under Covax limits itself to those registered vaccines. The US and their MDC-Alliance lackeys are This is only partly true. According to the latest available WHO information, Sinopharm and Sinovac did receive the global health watchdog’s nod on 7 May 2021 and 1 June 2021, respectively. On 12 July 2021, the Covax scheme, a multilateral facility set up to procure and distribute COVID-19 vaccines equitably to include low-income countries, announced an agreement to procure up to 550 million doses of both Sinopharm and Sinovac between July 2021 and mid-2022. Neither Sputnik V and India’s Covaxin have been approved for emergency use by the WHO or contracted for purchase by Covax for distribution to participating countries. These two vaccines are at different stages of the WHO evaluation process. CONCLUSION: The claim that all COVID-19 vaccines approved by Zimbabwe and currently in use in the country have also been cleared by the WHO and signed up for distribution by Covax is misleading. This is only true for the Sinopharm and Sinovac vaccines, while Sputnik V and Covaxin still await WHO authorisation and have not been contracted by Covax. FEATURED	news-zimfact	2024-05-27T18:41:47.087066	July 21, 2021	{ "license": "Creative Commons - Attribution - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/", "url": "https://zimfact.org/charambas-claim-on-vaccines-is-misleading/", "author": "Ngoni Mhuruyengwe" }
80	Child marriage: One in three Zimbabwean girls married by 18 - ZimFact Ngoni Mhuruyengwe August 18, 2021 The Zimbabwe Republic Police says it has opened an investigation into the reported death of a 14 year old girl during childbirth at an Apostolic sect’s shrine in Marange, in the eastern province of Manicaland. The case has triggered public outrage and once again brought the spotlight on child marriages in Zimbabwe. A report by The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and the United Nations Children’s Fund (Unicef) says that globally, more than one in four girls are married as children – before the age of 18. In the East and Southern African region, the share of girls married before 18 is 36%, while 10% of girls in the region are married by age 15. How big is Zimbabwe’s child marriage problem? According to the Zimbabwe National Statistics Agency (Zimstat), 33.7% of girls aged under 18 are married. This is one in three girls under 18. In comparison, 2% of boys get married before reaching the age of 18 years. Zimbabwe is among the 20 African countries where child marriages are most prevalent. Prevalence by geographic area Child marriages are most prevalent in Mashonaland Central, where 52.1% of girls get married before 18, while Bulawayo has the lowest prevalence rate, 10.9%. Zimstat data also shows that rural girls are twice more likely to be married before 18 than their urban counterparts. The religious factor Zimstat’s 2019 Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey (MICS) found that the highest prevalence of child marriages, 50.9%, is among families whose heads identified their religion as “traditional.” Protestants – who include Adventists, Anglicans, Baptists, Lutherans, Methodists and Presbyterians – have the lowest prevalence of child marriages, 16.2%. Poverty Data shows there is a positive correlation between child marriages and poverty. More children from poor households get married early, compared to those with higher incomes. What does the law say? The Constitution of Zimbabwe, adopted in 2013, sets 18 years as the minimum age of marriage in Zimbabwe. In January 2016, the Constitutional Court struck down a section of the Marriage Act, which had, for years, allowed children under the age of 18 years to marry. This was because that particular section was inconsistent with the Constitution. FEATURED	news-zimfact	2024-05-27T18:41:47.087066	August 18, 2021	{ "license": "Creative Commons - Attribution - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/", "url": "https://zimfact.org/child-marriage-one-in-three-zimbabwean-girls-married-by-18/", "author": "Ngoni Mhuruyengwe" }
81	Churches observe Zimbabwe elections - ZimFact Ngoni Mhuruyengwe July 27, 2018 Zimbabwe’s major churches and representatives from the southern African region have seconded teams to observe the July 30 general elections. The Church teams join dozens of international observers from across the globe invited to witness the presidential, parliamentary and council polls. The following local and regional church bodies have been accredited to observe the elections: IMBISA is composed of Catholic leaders from Angola, Botswana, Lesotho, Mozambique, Namibia, Sao Tome e Principe, South Africa, Swaziland and Zimbabwe. Factsheet compiled by Br. Alfonce Kugwa, director, Zimbabwe Catholic Social Communications.	news-zimfact	2024-05-27T18:41:47.087066	July 27, 2018	{ "license": "Creative Commons - Attribution - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/", "url": "https://zimfact.org/churches-observe-zimbabwe-elections/", "author": "Ngoni Mhuruyengwe" }
82	Claim that UK has given Zim $100m 'for cash shortages' incorrect - ZimFact Ngoni Mhuruyengwe May 21, 2018 By Nelson Banya CLAIM: On Friday, May 18, 2018, President Emmerson Mnangagwa said Zimbabwe had received a loan from the United Kingdom, which would go towards easing the country’s cash shortages. “For the first time after nearly 20 years, we have received a soft loan, from the British, of $100 million and the (RBZ) governor has been telling me how he has disbursed the money and as from yesterday almost every single bank in the country had received part of the $100 million received,” The Herald quoted the president as having said. Mnangagwa was to repeat the claim at a political rally in Mutare on Saturday. Speaking in Shona, Mnangagwa was quoted by The Sunday Mail saying: “We now have good relations with Britain, this week, on Tuesday, they gave us $100 million to help us resolve the cash crisis in the country.” DETAILS OF THE BRITISH LOAN: On Thursday, May 17, 2018, the Commonwealth Development Corporation (CDC), announced it would partner Standard Chartered Bank in extending an investment facility of up to $100 million to private Zimbabwean businesses seeking capital to grow. The CDC is the UK’s development finance arm, while Standard Chartered is a leading British bank, whose Zimbabwean unit is the oldest in the southern African country. The five-year facility will see CDC and Standard Chartered share the default risk on up to US$100 million of new loans originated by Standard Chartered Bank Zimbabwe in the southern African state. The investment will be used for capital expenditure and for helping businesses meet their day-to-day financing needs. The likely recipients will include firms in the food processing, manufacturing and agriculture sectors. In an interview with the Financial Times, CDC chief executive Nick O’Donohoe stressed that the funding would not be to Zimbabwe’s government, but private firms. CONCLUSION: While the loan will improve Zimbabwean businesses’ access to foreign currency, improve local production and reduce pressure on the country’s current account in the long term, it is incorrect to say, as Mnangagwa claimed, that the British have given Zimbabwe funds to ease its cash crisis. While the president claimed the funds had already been disbursed to Zimbabwe, the Financial Times, which broke the story, reported that CDC and Standard Chartered Bank were in the process of drawing up a list of private firms to benefit from the facility. The president’s statement created the impression that the $100 million loan was being directly injected into circulation in Zimbabwe, which is not the case. CDCMNANGAGWAOUR PICKSSTANDARD CHARTERED BANKTRENDING	news-zimfact	2024-05-27T18:41:47.087066	May 21, 2018	{ "license": "Creative Commons - Attribution - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/", "url": "https://zimfact.org/claim-that-uk-has-given-zim-100m-for-cash-shortages-incorrect/", "author": "Ngoni Mhuruyengwe" }
83	Considerations on Zimbabwe’s Future - ZimFact Ngoni Mhuruyengwe July 22, 2019 By Takura Zhangazha* Zimbabwe’s future is rarely discussed in holistic terms in everyday conversations. This is because the future is always in the immediate. This may appear contradictory or even complex but it is reflected in the everyday struggles of Zimbabweans to make the proverbial dollar out of fifteen (15) cents. It is almost as though our national mindset is now auto-tuned to what I will call ‘short-termism’. That is, an approach to our political and economic existence that emphasizes the immediate as opposed to the future. In this, an immediate follow-up question would be, what has caused this ‘short-termism’? The answers are varied and in most cases highly politicized. They range from blaming the ruling Zanu Pf party’s fast track land reform programme (FTLRP) for ruining the national economy and good governance. Through to sanctions, corruption, hyperinflation and of late the decision by the government to abandon the use of multiple currencies in favour of the return of the Zimbabwe dollar. Whatever reason one chooses, it is also apparent that there is a lot of public anger/angst at the present political-economic situation. And where there’s anger, there is also a search for some sort of catharsis or a moment of immediate relief. Hence in some cases anger is shown via public demonstrations or strident, rhetorical and in some cases violent language on the streets of social media. Full circle What is, however, more complex is a systematic and ideological understanding of how Zimbabwe got here in the first place. Even after the departure of Mugabe and the introduction of what has come to be dubbed the ‘new dispensation’ of his successor Emmerson Mnangagwa. The arguable reality of the matter is that the country has come full circle from radical nationalism (under Mugabe) to moderate neoliberalism (under the inclusive government) to full scale neoliberalism (under Mnangagwa). It is the latter’s policies and ideological model that matters the most in any discussions about Zimbabwe’s short and long term future. Mnangagwa’s tight embrace of the free market and cosying up to global capital through his promotion of the ‘ease of doing business’ is the base that helps us outline what is in store for Zimbabwe’s political economy. In relation to the political and most times politicized future, the economic ideological base that is neoliberalism will require Zimbabwe’s political institutions and practices to pass the test of ‘international standards.’ Basically our electoral processes and systems together with the functions of the three main arms of government- the executive, the judiciary and the legislature will be more regularly subject to measurement by regional, continental and global institutions and treaties. Performative politics This does not mean they will strictly adhere to these standards but Mnangagwa’s government will most certainly do some serious public relations on that front. Hence even after the ‘coup-not-a-coup’ the ruling Zanu Pf party went ahead with calling for elections with the primary objective of ‘international legitimacy’ which with the benefit of hindsight, they appear to have acquired. This, however, means that the art and meaning of politics in Zimbabwe will be highly ‘performative’ and populist, especially in the run up to constitutionally anticipated elections. Politics will be undertaken in order to satisfy the basic expectations of a hegemonic neoliberal audience and global capital. Not necessarily the people. The latter, it is hoped by Mnangagwa and his supporters, will benefit by way of an anticipated ‘trickle-down’ effect of a ‘free market’ political economy. Where we examine what possibilities lie ahead with the national economy, it is much clearer to explain. The Zimbabwe government has declared itself as pro-private capital and the free market. Its economic policies increasingly also indicate so as outlined in its Transitional Stabilisation Programme (TSP). This essentially means the future holds a host of realities that range from eventual privatization of state assets/entities, the expansion of the private sector into social service delivery also known as public-private partnerships and the reduction of the regulatory role of government in the economy/market. So those that will bear the brunt of ‘austerity’ are ordinary working people of Zimbabwe. Costs of goods and services will definitely become unaffordable to many. The priority will remain private capital in servitude to what many an economic pundit and the World Bank or IMF will approve as global best practices of ‘emerging economies’. Economic benevolence will, however, be shown during electoral periods in order to curry favour with voters. Individualism This brings us to the third consideration on the future of Zimbabwe, namely its social environment. Over the years, and as a direct result of attendant political-economic hardships endured by a majority of people, Zimbabwe has become a highly individualistic society. For students of global political economy this is arguably a result of neoliberal economic policies that deliberately focus on the individual and the market. In Zimbabwe’s case, the breakdown of social services and abandonment of the welfare system under Robert Mugabe’s tutelage and now being followed through by his successor has meant that, socially, Zimbabweans focus on their individual and immediate needs for everyday social services. This tendency toward individualism has also been strengthened by a global consumerist culture for goods and services that again, focus on the individual. Hence many young Zimbabweans are always seeking out ways and means to emigrate to countries that can make their individual lives ‘better’. This is a trend that is least likely to dissipate in the near or distant future. For collective perceptions of reality, citizens will continue to turn to religion for a sense of self-worth and belonging. Especially those religions that emphasize individual wealth accumulation. To conclude, I will revert to my opening line on how for many Zimbabweans, the future is in the immediate and not in the long term. And as I have argued in later paragraphs, this future is perceived in highly individualistic ways. In order to get out of such a future, we will have to learn to always think about the bigger ideological future as a whole and seek pragmatic ways to try and ensure it is people- centered, welfarist and fully considers those that will come after us. *Takura Zhangazha writes here in his personal capacity. More of his writings can be found @ takura-zhangazha.blogspot.com FEATURED	news-zimfact	2024-05-27T18:41:47.087066	July 22, 2019	{ "license": "Creative Commons - Attribution - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/", "url": "https://zimfact.org/considerations-on-zimbabwes-future/", "author": "Ngoni Mhuruyengwe" }
85	Coronavirus: The facts on Zimbabwe's stance on China travel - ZimFact Ngoni Mhuruyengwe February 11, 2020 The Zimbabwe government’s response to the threat of the coronavirus outbreak has drawn criticism on social media. How does it differ to positions taken by other African countries? On February 9, the Ministry of Health and Child Care tweeted on the state of preparedness at Zimbabwe’s ports of entry. Replies to the post criticised the Zimbabwean authorities for not being clear on travel advice. The country is on high alert with regards to the 2019 Novel Corona Virus and protocols and measures have been put in place at all points of entry into the country. pic.twitter.com/GRkIYDfGoy On January 27, 2020, the Ministry of Health and the Chinese Embassy in Harare issued a joint statement urging Zimbabweans and Chinese nationals to delay or cancel travel between the two countries. This was reported on January 28, by the official Herald newspaper, in an article titled “Coronavirus: Zim, China urge delays in travel”. On February 3, the Chinese ambassador to Zimbabwe, Guo Shaochun, held a press conference at which he urged Chinese nationals not to travel to Zimbabwe. “Those who have returned to the most affected regions in China, such as Hubei Province, are advised to hold off coming back to Zimbabwe to reduce the risk of bringing the virus to Zimbabwe.” Guo also said those that had traveled to China should isolate themselves for 14 days, the incubation period for the virus. On Friday, February 7, Health Minister Obadiah Moyo, during a tour of health facilities in Bulawayo, said Zimbabweans should cancel travel to China. “We are saying let’s not travel unnecessarily to those countries where the coronavirus is. Let’s not go to China right now. Let’s wait, postpone your trips to any other countries, which are affected. Let’s stay home and stay put,” Moyo was quoted as saying. Have “other African countries” banned travel between their countries and China as suggested by some social media users in Zimbabwe? Countries such as the USA and Australia now refuse entry to foreign nationals that recently traveled to China. Saudi Arabia has warned that “regulatory provisions on travel documents would be applied” to its citizens who travel to China. Most African countries have, instead, gone only as far as to urge their citizens not to travel to China – which is what Zimbabwe has also done – and have not imposed bans on travel. For example, South Africa’s Department of Health, in a February 5 statement, said it would not restrict travel, but that it discouraged non-essential travel. “There is still no recommendation to restrict travel or trade with China. We have not put any restriction on travel or trade between China and South Africa although we do continue to advise that non-essential travel should be delayed until the situation abates,” the Department said. This is the similar stance taken by countries such as Uganda, used as an example on Zimbabwean social media as a country that has given clear travel advisory. The Seychelles has had a stronger response. On February 7, the country issued a notice advising citizens not to travel to China and that tour operators should give Chinese tourists “who were planning to visit the Seychelles in the coming months, the opportunity to cancel or postpone their holiday at no cost”. Seychelles also advised airlines not to board any foreign nationals who have been to China in the preceding 14 days. Some African airlines have halted direct flights to China. These include EgyptAir, Kenya Airways and RwandAir. The continent’s biggest airline, Ethiopian Airlines, has continued flights, although it has cut frequency. Zimbabwe has no direct flights with China. The World Health Organisation has urged against any travel restrictions. “We reiterate our call to all countries not to impose restrictions that unnecessarily interfere with international travel and trade. Such restrictions can have the effect of increasing fear and stigma, with little public health benefit,” WHO Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said at a briefing to the UN’s executive board in Geneva on February 4. On February 10, the Minister of Health announced that Zimbabwe had received the reagents and was now awaiting more rapid test kits. At the start of February 2020, only two African countries, Senegal and South Africa, had the capacity to test for the virus, according to the WHO. This number had increased to six countries as at February 10, as Ghana, Madagascar, Nigeria and Sierra Leone received the reagents and test kits necessary to test for the virus. “A new virus is always a challenge and most laboratories in Africa lack the key material they need to perform tests on a novel pathogen,” said Dr Matshidiso Moeti, WHO Regional Director for Africa in statement. As at Feb 5, 71 samples had been received by South Africa’s National Institute of Communicable Diseases (NICD) from other African countries. All specimens tested negative for coronavirus. China is Africa’s biggest trading partner and around 10,000 Chinese firms are currently operating throughout the continent, according to Forbes magazine. Zimbabwe’s ties with China, which includes business and student travel, also places it at some risk. The WHO has, however, identified 13 African countries that are at the most risk, based on direct links and the high volume of travel between those countries and China. Zimbabwe is not among these countries, which have higher volumes of traffic with China and stronger economic links. The WHO’s 13 top priority in the African region are: Algeria, Angola, Cote d’Ivoire, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Mauritius, Nigeria, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia.	news-zimfact	2024-05-27T18:41:47.087066	February 11, 2020	{ "license": "Creative Commons - Attribution - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/", "url": "https://zimfact.org/coronavirus-the-facts-on-zimbabwes-stance-on-china-travel/", "author": "Ngoni Mhuruyengwe" }
86	Corrections - ZimFact Sunday, 26 May 2024 Because ZimFact values accuracy and transparency, we commit to handle all corrections and clarifications openly. We are grateful for any feedback that helps us improve our content. If you spot an error or omission, or if you would like a matter clarified, please let us know by sending an email to [email protected] or through any of our social media pages. Once received, every request for corrections or clarification will be reviewed by the editorial team. Once we establish a factual error in any of our articles, a correction will be made to the report in question, which will be clearly labelled “CORRECTION” along with an accompanying explanation of the amendments. Clarifications will also be clearly labelled “UPDATED”, and will carry an explanation of any additional information.	news-zimfact	2024-05-27T18:41:47.087066	Sunday, 26 May 2024	{ "license": "Creative Commons - Attribution - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/", "url": "https://zimfact.org/corrections/", "author": null }
87	COVID-19: New screening, testing regulations for Zimbabwe companies - ZimFact Ngoni Mhuruyengwe May 4, 2020 On Friday, May 1, President Emmerson Mnangagwa announced a further two-week extension to the COVID-19 lockdown. However, this latest extension came with conditions under which companies can resume operations. To enforce the new lockdown regulations, the Government has issued Statutory Instrument 99 of 2020. Among the measures, formal commercial and industrialbusinesses are allowed to open, but only after meeting a number of conditions. Accordingto the Ministry of Information, “it is criminal for any industry or business toopen without having met the conditions set in SI 99”. Here are the conditions that companies are supposed to meetbefore opening for business: Testing In April, the Government announced that mining companies would be allowed to open, provided they first tested their staff. This regulation has now been extended to all companies, who must ensure that their workers are screened and tested for COVID-19 before they can resume business. These tests can be through the rapid diagnostic test (RDT) or any other test approved by the Ministry of Health. Employers are required to arrange with Ministry of Health fortesting at an agreed time at the workplace or at any other place agreed betweenthem. They are required to call the Ministry of Health Call Centre (on 2019) orthe Ministry of Information Call Centre (2023). Who pays? In an update on May 3, the Ministry of Information said companies can arrange to have their staff tested for free at government facilities. However, those that want to test their workers quicker will have to procure their own RDT kits. The Ministry said: “To expedite the testing process,companies are encouraged to procure COVID19 rapid test kits for themselves,guided by the Ministry of Health and Child Care in terms of test kitsspecification.” Where will tests be done? Workers at smaller organisations will go to designated facilitiesfor testing, while testing of staff at larger companies will be done at theirbusiness premises by health officials from the testing institution, to avoidcongestion at public testing facilities. Will these tests be included in national data? The Ministry of Health and Child Care says it will providestandardised data collection tools for use during this screening process. All testingfacilities are to compile and submit daily reports to the Ministry. Testing facilities According to the Ministry of Information, designated medicalfacilities are as follows: • All Government health facilities • All Mission hospitals • All Municipality health facilities • Designated Not for Profit institutions – New Start Centres • Designated private institutions and laboratories – PSMI,Lancet laboratory, CIMAS. Which businesses are still closed? Restaurants, bars, tourist facilities, lodges, churches,sports clubs, bars, cinemas, and theatres remain closed. Transport Only conventional buses are allowed to operate. Kombis andsmall taxis (such as the mshikashikas) are still banned. The bus operators arerequired to test the temperature of passengers, wash passengers’ hands, enforcesocial distancing (by reducing number of passengers on board), and disinfecttheir buses at least two times a day. What other regulations are companies to observe? Employers must provide face masks and hand sanitiser foreveryone in their premises and enforce social distancing. Business must operateonly between 8AM and 3PM. How are other countries doing it? In South Africa, mandatory testing by companies applies to mining operations. On April 16, South Africa announced that mines would reopen part of their operations, provided they ensured:	news-zimfact	2024-05-27T18:41:47.087066	May 4, 2020	{ "license": "Creative Commons - Attribution - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/", "url": "https://zimfact.org/covid-19-new-screening-testing-regulations-for-zimbabwe-companies/", "author": "Ngoni Mhuruyengwe" }
88	COVID-19 vaccines still offer protection even as antibodies wane: WHO, experts - ZimFact Ngoni Mhuruyengwe August 23, 2021 Several news outlets, including Reuters, have reported on a laboratory study that showed how antibodies created by the CoronaVac COVID-19 vaccine (Sinovac) fade after about six months. The study, published in July, also called for a third dose of the vaccine to boost the immune response. This has invited questions about how long the protection offered by Sinovac and other COVID-19 lasts. More than antibodies Experts, including the World Health Organisation’s Strategic Advisory Group of Experts (SAGE) on Immunization and its COVID-19 Vaccines Working Group, note that while antibodies created by vaccines deplete over time, the body’s immune response to COVID-19 infection relies on more than just antibodies. While antibodies are Y-shaped proteins that envelope the virus and prevent it from invading the body’s cells, vaccines also create white blood cells that also fight infections and develop memory to fend off future infections. These cells are long-lived and outlive antibodies. Cell-mediated immunity In its interim statement issued on 10 August 2021, the WHO says while studies have shown that antibodies decline over time, cell-mediated immunity continues to offer protection against severe disease. Cell mediated immunity is an immune response that does not involve antibodies but is driven by the activation of cells that destroy pathogens like the coronavirus, in the case of COVID-19. As a result, the WHO says, protection against COVID-19 remains even after antibodies have faded, due to the presence of T cells which target and destroy virus-infected cells. “While data on immunogenicity of some vaccines suggest that antibodies persist for at least 6 months, waning of neutralizing antibodies has been reported,” WHO said. “Although there may be a loss of protection against infections by SARS-CoV-2 protection against severe disease is likely to be largely retained due to cell mediated immunity. T cells These are a special type of white blood cells which respond to infection. While antibodies fight the virus as it floats outside cells, they are helpless once the virus enters the cell. T cells are the part of the immune system responsible for this part of the battle. According to Dr. Shira Weingarten-Gabbay, a scientist at the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard’s Sabeti Lab, once infected, cells break up viral proteins into small pieces called peptides. The cells then present these peptides on the cell surface where they are visible to T cells which then come and destroy the infected cells. In the process, the T cells develop memory, which helps them fight future infections. “Once the T cell recognises infected cells and kills them off, it forms memory cells. The next time the virus enters the body, we already have a group of cells ready and trained to recognise the virus, acting very quickly on killing the virus, “ Dr Weingarten-Gabbay says. “This memory response is what makes second infection, third infection by the same virus much easier. In many cases, you won’t even get sick because our immune system will recognise the virus so quickly. And when we design a vaccine, we’re basically trying to mimic the same process, we’re trying to teach our immune system how the virus will look like, once it enters the body.” FEATURED	news-zimfact	2024-05-27T18:41:47.087066	August 23, 2021	{ "license": "Creative Commons - Attribution - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/", "url": "https://zimfact.org/covid-19-vaccines-still-offer-protection-even-as-antibodies-wane-who-experts/", "author": "Ngoni Mhuruyengwe" }
89	COVID-19: Zimbabwe's response strategy - ZimFact Ngoni Mhuruyengwe March 18, 2020 As of March 18, 2020, Zimbabwe had not reported a confirmed case of COVID-19. On Tuesday, March 17, President Emmerson Mnangagwa declared the COVID-19 pandemic a national disaster. This allows the government to raise resources and take additional measures to prepare for the fight against the novel coronavirus. Here are some of the measures that the government has put in place to deal with the COVID-19 pandemic: 1. Declaration of a national disaster In terms of Zimbabwe’s Civil Protection Act, if the President considers “that any disaster is of such a nature and extent that extraordinary measures are necessary to assist and protect the persons affected or likely to be affected by the disaster in any area within Zimbabwe, or that circumstances are likely to arise making such measures necessary, the President may in such manner as he considers fit declare that, with effect from a date specified by him in the declaration, a state of disaster exists within an area defined by him in the declaration.” 2. No travel ban, but quarantine for travellers from high-risk countries. Zimbabwe has not imposed a ban on travel from high-risk countries, but is discouraging travel. The government will, however, impose a 14-day quarantine on travellers from countries deemed to pose a high-risk. Zimbabweans are also discouraged from non-essential travel to these countries. 3. Major borders remain open. All major ports of entry into the country will remain open, with only the smaller borders closed. 4. Big gatherings suspended. Gatherings of more than 100 people, including those for purposes of worship and weddings have been suspended for 60 days, starting from March 17, after which the suspension will be reviewed. This move affects major national events, such as national independence celebrations, traditionally held on April 18, as well as the Zimbabwe International Trade Fair. Funds originally earmarked for these events will now be channeled towards the fight against COVID-19 as well as drought relief. 5. Health facilities on high alert. All hospitals and health facilities have been put on high alert. All government premises will be equipped with screening and sanitising facilities. The private sector is encouraged to install similar facilities. 6. Isolation and treatment centres to be increased. More isolation and treatment centres are being identified, designated and equipped appropriately. 7. Communication task force set up. A national communication task force on COVID-19, which will disseminate accurate information and raise general awareness on the pandemic will be set up. Prior to the new measures announced this week, the government’s approach to the coronavirus included the following measures: CORONAVIRUSCOVID-19FEATURED	news-zimfact	2024-05-27T18:41:47.087066	March 18, 2020	{ "license": "Creative Commons - Attribution - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/", "url": "https://zimfact.org/covid-19-zimbabwes-response-strategy/", "author": "Ngoni Mhuruyengwe" }
90	Creative Commons - ZimFact Sunday, 26 May 2024	news-zimfact	2024-05-27T18:41:47.087066	Sunday, 26 May 2024	{ "license": "Creative Commons - Attribution - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/", "url": "https://zimfact.org/creative-commons/", "author": null }
91	Dashboard – Fast facts on Zimbabwe's March 26 by-elections - ZimFact Ngoni Mhuruyengwe March 17, 2022 Zimbabwe will hold by-elections on March 26 to fill in vacant seats in its Parliament National Assembly and Local Council Authorities across the country. Here is a dashboard of details on the by-elections. Number of seats vacant: 28 seats for National Assembly and 122 Local Councils. Number of women parliamentary candidates: 16 out of 118 Accreditation of Observers and Media: As at March 13, a total of 488 local observers, 18 foreign observers and four local journalists had been accredited. Accreditation closes 22 March 2022. Date for by-elections: 26 March 2022 Publication of results: By 1 April 2022 Submission of election report to Parliament: 5 June 2022 Electoral Court: 18 judges of the High Court have been appointed by the Chief Justice Luke Malaba to constitute the Electoral Court. It will operate from March 1 to August 30 2022. The court will have exclusive jurisdiction to hear appeals, applications and petitions in terms of the Electoral Act, review any decision of the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission or anyone else made under the Act and shall have power to give such judgements, orders and directions in those matters as might be given by the High Court. Uncontested seat: ZANU PF goes into the election with already one ward; Ward 14 Umguza RDC. Ncube Delay (ZANU PF) was declared the winner as he was the only candidate to file nomination papers on nomination day. Withdrawals: Four local authority candidates withdrew their candidature after nomination. These are three MDC Alliance candidates (Chinhoyi, Masvingo and Chiredzi), and one CCC candidate in Bulawayo. Who can vote: Anyone who was on the voters’ roll before 8 January 2022 can vote in the by-elections for Parliamentary candidates. Under the Electoral Act, the voters’ roll is closed two days after the by-election is proclaimed. In this case, the by-elections for the National Assembly were proclaimed on January 6, meaning that only those on the voters’ roll before the cut-off date – January 8 – can vote. The voters’ roll for ward elections were closed as soon as vacancies occurred. Those who registered as voters after January 8 cannot vote in the by-election, but can vote in the 2023 election. Sources: Zimbabwe Electoral Commission, Contesting parties, Government Gazette, ERC	news-zimfact	2024-05-27T18:41:47.087066	March 17, 2022	{ "license": "Creative Commons - Attribution - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/", "url": "https://zimfact.org/dashboard-fast-facts-on-zimbabwes-march-26-by-elections/", "author": "Ngoni Mhuruyengwe" }
92	Dashboard – Zimbabwe 2023 election timeline - ZimFact Ngoni Mhuruyengwe June 7, 2023 Sources Extraordinary Government Gazette, May 31 2023 Related Content FEATURED	news-zimfact	2024-05-27T18:41:47.087066	June 7, 2023	{ "license": "Creative Commons - Attribution - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/", "url": "https://zimfact.org/dashboard-zimbabwe-2023-election-timeline/", "author": "Ngoni Mhuruyengwe" }
93	Data Protection Act: What you can and cannot do under new law - ZimFact Ngoni Mhuruyengwe December 8, 2021 On December 3, 2021, the Zimbabwe government gazetted the Data Protection Act. The law was originally referred to as the Cyber Security and Data Protection Bill. The Zimbabwe government says the law will safeguard users in cyberspace and that it is in line with similar laws in other countries. However, critics such as the Media Institute of Southern Africa, say some of the clauses may be used to stifle the work of civil society and whistleblowers, and that part of the law violates freedom of expression as guaranteed in the national Constitution. Why was the law enacted? According to its memorandum, the law is meant to consolidate cyber-related offences and provide for data protection with due regard to the Declaration of Rights under the Constitution and the public and national interest, create a technology-driven business environment and encourage technological development and the lawful use of technology. The Data Protection Act consolidates several pieces of legislation that govern cyber security and data protection. These include the Postal and Telecommunications Act, Official Secrecy Act, Criminal law (Codification and Reform) Act and the Interceptions of Communications Act. What does the law say? Here are some of the offences contained in the consolidated law: Information sources: Zimbabwe Government Gazette, Veritas, MISA-Zimbabwe FEATURED	news-zimfact	2024-05-27T18:41:47.087066	December 8, 2021	{ "license": "Creative Commons - Attribution - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/", "url": "https://zimfact.org/data-protection-act-what-you-can-and-cannot-do-under-new-law/", "author": "Ngoni Mhuruyengwe" }
94	Debunked: These rumours that you've heard about COVID-19 vaccines are not true - ZimFact Ngoni Mhuruyengwe February 10, 2021 The manufacture and distribution of COVID-19 vaccines have inspired many conspiracy theories against vaccines around the world. Vaccines are not new. In fact, the WHO estimates that at least 10 million deaths were prevented between 2010 and 2015 thanks to vaccinations delivered around the world. In this report, ZimFact busts some of the most common myths and misinformation around vaccines that have been popular on social media. Our report is compiled using information from credible sources, such as the World Health Organisation (WHO), Zimbabwe’s Ministry of Health and Child Care, the Centres for Disease Control (CDC) in the USA, and the Africa CDC. Myth: The COVID-19 vaccine is experimental, it was developed too quickly. We are being used for experiments Fact: The global emergency resulted in pharmaceutical companies and governments investing significantly into developing vaccines. However, this doesn’t mean that safety steps were skipped. Vaccines were still put through tests. They are tested on tens of thousands of people before they can be used widely. According to the CDC, a manufacturer is authorised only after following at least half of the study participants for at least two months after completing the vaccination series. The vaccine must be proven safe and effective in that population. When there is a serious public health emergency, such as coronavirus, the WHO and health authorities worldwide give what is called Emergency Use Authorisation (EUA). Under the EUA, a medicine can be used to treat people during an emergency, if it has been deemed to be safe. This is not new. It has been successfully done during previous outbreaks, such as Ebola. In addition, scientists were not starting from scratch. Although SARS-CoV-2 – the new coronavirus – was new, scientists have already been studying other coronaviruses for many years. Technology has also advanced, allowing for quicker development. Myth: The COVID-19 vaccine includes a microchip to monitor the masses Fact: There is no microchip in the vaccine. Conspiracy theories around the microchip largely focus on Bill Gates, the billionaire philanthropist who is a target of the anti-vaccination lobby. Gates’ comments, during the COVID-19 pandemic’s early days, that people and businesses might need to have digital certificates “to show who has recovered or been tested recently or, when we have a vaccine, who has received it,” have been manipulated to feed the false narrative. READ: FACT CHECK – Makandiwa, Bill Gates, vaccines and microchips Gates’ remarks have been twisted and packaged into several social media posts and videos with a common theme – “Bill Gates wants to use a mass vaccination campaign against COVID-19 to implant microchips in people that would be used to track people with a digital ID.” This is simply not true. Firstly, no microchip can fit in a vaccine needle. Secondly, if anyone wanted to track people, they wouldn’t need to inject a microchip into people. They can already do that using your smartphone. Myth: COVID-19 vaccines will alter my DNA Fact: Among the first COVID-19 vaccines to reach the market are messenger RNA (mRNA) vaccines. According to the CDC, mRNA vaccines work by instructing cells in the body how to make a protein that triggers an immune response. Injecting mRNA into your body will not interact or do anything to the DNA of your cells. Human cells break down and get rid of the mRNA soon after they have finished using the instructions. In fact, the mRNA will not even reach the cell’s nucleus, which is where our DNA is housed. Myth: Vaccines are fake because you still get infected after vaccination Fact: Vaccines are effective in reducing your chances of getting seriously ill or dying from being infected by COVID-19. If you are vaccinated, you are less likely to die or to be admitted to hospital than someone who is not vaccinated. Myth: People who have had COVID-19 do not need the vaccine Fact: Even if you have tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 in the past, you should be vaccinated. According to the CDC: “Due to the severe health risks associated with COVID-19 and the fact that reinfection with COVID-19 is possible, [a] vaccine should be offered to you regardless of whether you already had [a SARS-CoV-2] infection.” Myth: High COVID-19 recovery rate makes vaccination unnecessary Fact: Most people who get COVID-19 do recover, but many develop severe symptoms and die, so vaccination protects those who might suffer the coronavirus’ fatal impact. More than 1,300 people have died in Zimbabwe, and over 2,3 million globally. Experts believe many who have recovered from the disease will suffer long-term health problems. So, even if contracting COVID-19 does not make you sick, getting vaccinated will protect those around you who might suffer severe complications or even death. Widespread vaccination protects populations, including those who are most at risk and those who can’t be vaccinated. It will be important for ending the pandemic. Myth: COVID-19 vaccines cause infertility Fact: COVID-19 vaccines do not cause infertility. Health experts warn that COVID-19 can in fact have serious implications on pregnant women, who typically experience changes to their immune systems that can make them more vulnerable to respiratory viruses. According to a September 2020 report by the CDC, pregnant women with COVID-19 were found to be more likely to be hospitalized and require ICU admission than non-pregnant women. Myth: These vaccines cause impotence Fact: No true. You can still have children after getting the COVID-19 vaccine. Scientists say there is no evidence that vaccines cause infertility or impotence. Vaccines are designed to work with your immune system to help it to respond to viruses. They do not make you impotent. In fact, on the contrary, researchers have found that men who suffer severe COVID-19 illness may suffer from erectile dysfunction. This means that vaccines, in fact, protect you from impotence. They do not cause it. Myth: These Chinese vaccines we have in Zimbabwe are not safe Fact: The Sinopharm and Sinovac vaccines we use in Zimbabwe have been tested and approved for use by the WHO. SAGE, which is the WHO’s panel of experts, assessed the vaccines and has said: “SAGE has thoroughly assessed the data on quality, safety and efficacy of the vaccine and has recommended its use for people aged 18 and above.” The vaccines have not just been tested in the labs. They have been tested in the real world. They have been used on large populations in other countries, which gives us an idea of their efficacy. Efficacy against hospitalisation for Sinovac in Chile was 85%, and it was 100% in Brazil, where the Gamma variant was first found. It was also 100% in Turkey. This means that the vaccine was able to prevent people from getting seriously ill in those countries. According to the WHO, a large Phase 3 trial in many countries showed that two doses, given at an interval of 21 days, gave an efficacy of 79% against symptomatic SARS-CoV-2 infection 14 or more days after the second dose. Vaccine efficacy against hospitalisation was 79%. UNICEF is using Sinopharm to supply up to 120 million doses globally this year. Myth: Getting the COVID-19 vaccine means no more masks and other coronavirus precautions. Fact: People who get vaccinated against COVID-19 still need to maintain infection prevention precautions recommended by the World Health Organisation, health experts and authorities. This means one still has to keep wearing face masks in public, maintain physical distance and hand washing. Vaccines do not stop the coronavirus from entering your body; they only prevent you from developing moderate to severe COVID-19. The length of immunity of vaccinated people is not yet known. It’s also not yet clear whether vaccination stops transmission of the coronavirus to other people. Myth: The COVID-19 vaccine gives you COVID-19 Fact: COVID-19 vaccines cannot and will not give you COVID-19. The vaccines trigger your immune response by instructing your cells to reproduce a protein that is part of the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus, helping your body recognize and fight the virus, if it comes along. The COVID-19 vaccine does not contain the SARS-Co-2 virus, so you cannot get COVID-19 from the vaccine. The protein that helps your immune system recognize and fight the virus does not cause any infection. Myth: COVID-19 vaccines have deadly side effects Fact: While the COVID-19 vaccine can have side effects, they are mostly short-term and not serious or dangerous. According to the vaccine developers, some people experience pain where they were injected; body aches; headaches or fever, lasting for a day or two. These are signs that the vaccine is working to stimulate the immune system, but if the symptoms persist beyond two days, you are advised to seek medical help. Myth: Vaccines are designed to kill you in two years. Fact: This rumour circulated after a false internet report claimed that French virologist Luc Montagnier said all vaccinated people will die within two years. ZimFact checked the claim. It was reported by LifeSiteNews, a Canadian website that publishes conspiracy theories and misinformation. Our check also discovered that Luc Montagnier never said that. It is fake news. Myth: Now that we have vaccines, the pandemic will be over very soon Fact: While the several vaccines that have been developed present a great opportunity to end the COVID-19 pandemic, experts say this might take years due to the complexity of the global vaccine rollout. A little over 100 million COVID-19 vaccine doses had been administered worldwide by February 3, according to the Council for Foreign Relations. At the current rate, it will take years for enough of the global population to be vaccinated to a point where cases will start to fall. Some experts believe 70% of the population will have to be vaccinated to achieve herd immunity – the point at which the disease is no longer likely to spread. Vaccine manufacturers have limited capacity to produce in the face of huge global demand, so the vaccines are being distributed in phases. While governments, vaccine developers, donors and other multilateral institutions work towards broad vaccine availability and distribution, the recommended measures to slow the spread of COVID-19 – wearing masks, physical distancing and washing hands – remain vital. FEATURED	news-zimfact	2024-05-27T18:41:47.087066	February 10, 2021	{ "license": "Creative Commons - Attribution - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/", "url": "https://zimfact.org/debunked-these-rumours-that-youve-heard-about-covid-19-vaccines-are-not-true/", "author": "Ngoni Mhuruyengwe" }
95	Did Chamisa brag about 'impregnating any woman'? - ZimFact Ngoni Mhuruyengwe May 21, 2018 The Herald newspaper reported on May 18 2018 that “MDC Alliance leader Nelson Chamisa yesterday said that he was young and could impregnate any woman to prove how energetic he was in yet another show of sexism.” Fact-checked by ZimFact Staff The newspaper claimed that Chamisa said this while addressing an election campaign rally at Maboleni Business Centre in Lower Gweru May 17. It quoted him as saying “As we go to an election this year, we must say goodbye to old age leadership. We want young and energetic leaders like me. Is there anyone who can doubt that I am energetic? Just give me any woman here and see if I fail to score?” By Monday, May 21, the daily had not yet publicly responded to complaints by the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) Alliance challenging its report as false. In a statement, Chamisa’s spokesperson Luke Tamborinyoka accused state media of pursuing an agenda to alienate the MDC Alliance from women voters. “He (Chamisa) never made any direct or inferred reference to impregnating any woman at the rally. All he said was that he will score many positives when elected to lead the country,” he said. The video above, posted on the MDC Alliance Facebook page on the Maboleni rally, bears no evidence of Chamisa bragging about impregnating women. Instead, the misreported Chamisa quotes appear to have arisen from his remarks on devolution: “We want kuti zvinhu zviuye kuno kunana Vungu. Tarisai muone development ifonanira kuenda kunzvimbo dzese. Toda kusimudzira Vungu farming nekurima kunoitwa kuno. Toda kuti Vungu isimudzirwe. Vanhu vasaenda kuHarare, vanhu vasenda kuGweru, vanhu vasaenda kuBulawayo. Vanhu vanofanira kuva munharaunda dzvo, madeveloper, masimudzirwa, vari padyo nehama dzavo. Asi kuti musvike ipapo, munoda mutungamiri mutsva, umkhokeli omutsha. A young man. Pane anga doubter here kuti mukandipa ndinogohwesa chop chop?” [We want to bring development to places such as Vungu. Development must be devolved to all areas. We want to develop the farming activities here in Vungu. We want Vungu to be developed so that people do not have to go to Harare, Gweru or Bulawayo to access services. But for us to get to that point, you need a new leader. A young man. Does anyone here doubt that if you give me the opportunity I will score?”] Report by Cris Chinaka CHAMISAFEATUREDHERALDMDC	news-zimfact	2024-05-27T18:41:47.087066	May 21, 2018	{ "license": "Creative Commons - Attribution - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/", "url": "https://zimfact.org/did-chamisa-brag-about-impregnating-any-woman/", "author": "Ngoni Mhuruyengwe" }
96	Did Harare city council find a 'fake condom' plant in Mbare as claimed on social media? No, the pic is from Vietnam - ZimFact Ngoni Mhuruyengwe January 11, 2022 Claim: Fake condom manufacturing plant in Mbare Source: Social media posts Verdict: False Posts circulating on WhatsApp claim to show a fake condom manufacturing plant that was discovered in Mbare during the recent demolition of illegal vending stalls. The picture is however not from Mbare. Google reverse image search shows that the picture was in fact published in a Vietnamese online publication in 2020. The picture was run alongside a story of a Vietnamese contractor who was recycling used condoms and was caught by authorities there. The picture purporting to be from Mbare does not show any machinery being used in manufacturing the condoms. ZimFact contacted the Harare City Council, which said that their staff involved in the Mbare demolitions did not come across any installation of that nature. Conclusion A viral post purporting to show a ‘fake condom manufacturing plant’ found in Mbare is misleading. The picture in the post is actually from Vietnam and has nothing to do with Mbare. FEATURED	news-zimfact	2024-05-27T18:41:47.087066	January 11, 2022	{ "license": "Creative Commons - Attribution - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/", "url": "https://zimfact.org/did-harare-city-council-find-a-fake-condom-plant-in-mbare-as-claimed-on-social-media-no-the-pic-is-from-vietnam/", "author": "Ngoni Mhuruyengwe" }
97	Did Mnangagwa mislead the UN about legislative reforms? - ZimFact Ngoni Mhuruyengwe September 26, 2019 President Emmerson Mnangagwa addresses the UN General Assembly on September 25, 2019 *Earlier article is updated to clarify that, while the Maintenance of Peace and Order Act has been passed by Parliament, it is yet to be signed into law by the President. CLAIM: President Emmerson Mnangagwa, addressing the United Nations General Assembly in New York on September 25, 2019, said his government had repealed the much-criticised Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act (AIPPA) as well as the Public Order and Security Act (POSA). VERDICT: Only partially true. While POSA’s replacement, the Maintenance of Peace and Order Act (MOPA), has been passed by Parliament, it is yet to come into effect because the President has not yet signed it into law. AIPPA has also not been repealed. The three laws that will eventually replace AIPPA are at various stages of development and are yet to be passed. What did Mnangagwa say? Addressing his second UN General Assembly since coming to power in November 2017, Mnangagwa sought to play up his administration’s political reforms, a key determinant in Zimbabwe’s bid to normalise ties with Western governments. “Progress has also been achieved in the area of political and legislative reforms. To date, the alignment of most of our laws to the Constitution is almost complete. The outdated media laws, Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act and the old Public Order and Security Act have been repealed. New laws in relation to these areas have been enacted.” What is the legislative state of play? Parliament passed the Maintenance of Peace and Order Act on August 29, 2019, following marathon debates in the lower chamber. The new law is yet to receive official presidential assent and is, thus, not yet in effect. As such, POSA has not yet been repealed. Of the three media laws expected to replace AIPPA – the Protection of Personal Information Bill, Zimbabwe Media Commission Bill and the Freedom of Information Bill – only the last two have been tabled in Parliament. As the first session of the Ninth Parliament draws to a close this week, the Zimbabwe Media Commission Bill and the Freedom of Information Bill are still under the Parliamentary Legal Committee’s scrutiny, after their introduction in the National Assembly on August 29, 2019. The status of the Protection of Personal Information Bill, which was approved by Cabinet on February 19, 2019, is unclear as the Bill is yet to be tabled in Parliament. Conclusion: Mnangagwa’s claim that both AIPPA and POSA have been repealed is inaccurate and, therefore, misleading. While POSA is close to being repealed and replaced by the Maintenance of Peace and Order Act, it remains in effect until Mnangagwa signs it into law. The three laws set to replace AIPPA are still some way from being enacted. AIPPAFEATUREDMNANGAGWAPOSAUNITED NATIONS	news-zimfact	2024-05-27T18:41:47.087066	September 26, 2019	{ "license": "Creative Commons - Attribution - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/", "url": "https://zimfact.org/did-mnangagwa-mislead-the-un-about-legislative-reforms/", "author": "Ngoni Mhuruyengwe" }
98	Did NewsDay fall for a photoshopped image? - ZimFact Ngoni Mhuruyengwe November 4, 2019 Photoshopped…a manipulated image of President Emmerson Mnangagwa, which has done the rounds on social media. On November 2, 2019, NewsDay published an editorial comment under the headline “ED has no capacity to steer this ship out of murky waters”. In the editorial, the paper states: “Recent social media pictures of President Emmerson Mnangagwa helping himself to mazondo in an airjet and another of a sumptuous breakfast that the majority of Zimbabweans can only partake in in their dreams have become part of the enduring image of the leadership ineptitude and failure that he has become associated with.” The paper added: “The fact that these images found their way onto the President’s social media pages at a time the country is facing a myriad of seemingly insurmountable problems depict a leader who either does not care about the situation on the ground or has no capacity to steer this ship out of the tumultuous waters.” In fact, the image to which NewsDay refers, featuring Mnangagwa purportedly having a large breakfast, is a photoshopped picture that went viral on social media. The picture meshes together two images; a picture of Mnangagwa eating on the plane while returning from a trip to France, and another separate picture of a breakfast that trended widely on social media. NewsDay is not the only news outlet to fall for the photoshopped “Mnangagwa breakfast”. On October 29, 2019, the website Spotlight also posted the altered picture under the headline “PICTURE: Mnangagwa’s gigantic breakfast”. The website later took down the post. Developers such as Adobe have crafted guidelines on how to detect altered images. FEATURED	news-zimfact	2024-05-27T18:41:47.087066	November 4, 2019	{ "license": "Creative Commons - Attribution - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/", "url": "https://zimfact.org/did-newsday-fall-for-a-photoshopped-image/", "author": "Ngoni Mhuruyengwe" }
99	Did Sky News fall for Twitter hoax? - ZimFact Ngoni Mhuruyengwe July 31, 2018 CLAIM: Sky News’ Africa correspondent, John Sparks took to Twitter on Monday to announce that President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s spokesperson, George Charamba, had told the news channel that the president had lost to opposition challenger Nelson Chamisa. VERDICT: False. Charamba has denied making the concession, or speaking to Sky News. Twitter hoax Sparks’ assertion seems to stem from a tweet from a fake account, under Charamba’s name. The account has since been taken down. Charamba has denied having a Twitter account. He also denied speaking to the Sky journalist.	news-zimfact	2024-05-27T18:41:47.087066	July 31, 2018	{ "license": "Creative Commons - Attribution - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/", "url": "https://zimfact.org/did-sky-news-fall-for-twitter-hoax/", "author": "Ngoni Mhuruyengwe" }
100	Did The Herald carry billboard or report on Chiwenga sabotaging Mnangagwa? - ZimFact Ngoni Mhuruyengwe July 29, 2018 Claim: Social Media circulated a billboard purportedly published by Zimbabwe’s Herald newspaper on Saturday, July 28 2018, saying Vice-President Constantino Chiwenga had sabotaged President Emmerson Mnangagwa ahead of polls. Conclusion: False The Herald did not publish any such billboard or story on July 28 2018.	news-zimfact	2024-05-27T18:41:47.087066	July 29, 2018	{ "license": "Creative Commons - Attribution - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/", "url": "https://zimfact.org/did-the-herald-carry-billboard-or-report-on-chiwenga-sabotaging-mnangagwa/", "author": "Ngoni Mhuruyengwe" }
101	Did ZBC win "best TV award" at ZITF? - ZimFact Ngoni Mhuruyengwe October 7, 2021 CLAIM: ZBC won the Best Television Award at this year’s Zimbabwe International Trade Fair (ZITF). Source: Various social media posts. VERDICT: FALSE: ZBC did not win any award at the 2021 ZITF. There was no category for “best television station station” among the 21 categories that were awarded. Claims that the Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation (ZBC), which currently operates the country’s sole national, free-to-air television station, had been given the “best television award” at the Zimbabwe International Trade Fair (ZITF) late last month went viral on both Twitter and Facebook. Various social media accounts, including an imposter “ZBC” on Twitter, pushed the claim. ZBC won the best TV station award at the ZITF this week. The claims drew ridicule for both the ZITF and ZBC, which has a monopoly on broadcast television in the country. Zimbabwe is one of the few countries where the state still has a monopoly on broadcast television. The government issued six television licences in November 2020 and gave the licencees 18 months to start broadcasting. None of the stations has gone live yet. ZITF board chairman Busisa Moyo has refuted the claim that the fair had given a “best television” award to ZBC. “That is fake news, there was no such award given to ZBC,” Moyo told ZimFact. The ZITF has made available, a list of all the winners from this year’s fair. Below is the table of 2021 exhibition competition winners: CONCLUSION: The claim that ZBC won a “best television” award at this year’s Zimbabwe International Trade Fair is false. FEATURED	news-zimfact	2024-05-27T18:41:47.087066	October 7, 2021	{ "license": "Creative Commons - Attribution - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/", "url": "https://zimfact.org/did-zbc-win-best-tv-award-at-zitf/", "author": "Ngoni Mhuruyengwe" }
102	About the missing $15 billion diamond revenue... - ZimFact administrator March 16, 2018 By Nelson Banya DURING his 92 birthday interview with the Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation (ZBC) aired on March 5 2016, former president, Robert Mugabe, made the following claim: “We have not received much from the diamond industry at all,” he said. “Not much by way of earnings. I don’t think we have exceeded $2 billion or so and yet we think that well over 15 or more billion dollars have been earned in that area. “So where have our carats been going?The gems? You see, there has been quite a lot of secrecy in handling them and we have been blinded ourselves. That means our people who we expected to be our eyes and ears have not been able to see or hear what was going on and lots of swindling, smuggling has taken place and the companies that have been mining have virtually, I want to say, robbed us of our wealth.That is why we have decided that this area should be a monopoly area and only the State should be able to do the mining in that area. Given the lingering suspicion that revenues from the Marange diamond fields had been looted by connected politicians, Mugabe’s claim was readily accepted and even assumed the level of a major confession. But does the claim stand up to scrutiny? Geologists working for global diamond mining giant, De Beers, are credited with discovering the Marange alluvial diamond deposits around 2000. Thereafter, De Beers, through its prospecting company, Kimberlitic Searches, acquired two Exclusive Prospecting Orders (EPO) for Marange in the early 2000s. By the time the EPO expired in 2006, De Beers had taken a decision not to exploit the deposits. In June 2006, the Marange exploration rights were taken up by African Consolidated Resources. The company unsuccessfully sought to exploit the Marange deposits in a joint venture with the state-owned Zimbabwe Mining Development Corporation (ZMDC). Instead, the ZMDC laid claim to the entire claims initially granted to ACR. A court battle ensued, which resulted in ACR’s rights being upheld. Meanwhile, in August 2006, a diamond rush into Marange took place, attracting an estimated 10 000 illegal artisanal miners into the vast fields. Source: Associated Press The illegal mining persisted until November 2008, when the government deployed security forces to drive panners out of the fields, in a crackdown dubbed ‘Operation Hakudzokwi’ (don’t come back). Government faced international criticism for alleged human rights abuses committed by the security forces during the crackdown. Global pressure was brought to bear and Zimbabwe was not allowed to trade in diamonds from Marange until the industry watchdog Kimberley Process Certification Scheme (KPCS) had verified that the country was compliant with its standards meant to eliminate trade in conflict gems. A KPCS monitors certified Zimbabwe compliant in June 2010, paving the way for international auctions. The global rough diamond market has average $12,63 billion in size, between 2009 and 2015. Production has averaged 126 million carats annually over that period. The Kimberley Process, an intergovernmental diamond certification scheme, was launched in 2003 to prevent diamonds from fuelling civil wars and conflict. The Kimberley Process only covers the trade in rough diamonds (diamonds before they are cut or polished). The vast majority of diamond trading and producing countries – the European Community and 46 countries in total – are members of the Kimberley Process and are required to implement an import/export control regime to keep out conflict diamonds: diamonds used to finance conflict and civil wars. Critics of the Kimberley Process have, over the years, pointed to some loopholes in this system, which have led to violations. However, these violations are estimated to be in the order of millions, not billions, and, while they are a matter to be dealt with, they could hardly put a dent in the global rough diamond industry, which reached $14 billion in 2016, according to the latest available Kimberley Process data. Mugabe’s 2016 reference was to the period between 2009, when government took effective control of Marange, to 2015, the full year preceding his statements. During that period, Zimbabwe’s cumulative gross rough diamond sales amounted to $2,432,041,507.87, according to the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme’s rough diamond production and sales statistics. Production, over that period, was nearly 50 million carats. https://kimberleyprocessstatistics.org/public_statistics Apart from the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme, other industry players such as Russia’s Alrosa, the world’s largest rough diamond producer accounting for a third of global production, routinely release data showing output and market trends. Between 2009 and 2015, Zimbabwe’s diamonds fetched an average of $46,09 per carat. Diamond industry officials and experts attribute the low prices, relative to the global average, to the low grade as well as trade restrictions that come with Zimbabwe’s troubled ties to Western states, which have maintained economic sanctions on its government since 2000. The United States maintains an embargo on diamonds from Marange, while the European Union only lifted its ban in 2013, four years into formal diamond mining in the region. Marange’s diamond are generally small, with a brownish-green, somewhat tarnished tint. A large percentage of Marange’s production goes into industrial use. However, the stones have a lower cost of production per carat, in the $20-$45 range, significantly lower than the global average of $100 per carat, according to industry expert Paul Zimnisky. http://www.paulzimnisky.com/marange-may-not-be-the-worlds-largest-diamond-producer-for-much-longer This is largely due to the fact that the Marange diamonds are alluvial and are easily extractable, compared to deposits which require large-scale commercial open-pit or underground mining. By 2013, mining companies operating in Marange were already indicating that the near-surface deposits in their concessions were exhausted and the firms were considering the economy of mining deeper-lying conglomerate rocks. Between 2010, when Zimbabwe’s diamond production surged 775 percent to 8,4 million carats, and 2012, when it reached its peak output of 12,1 million carats, former mines minister, Obert Mpofu, repeatedly claimed the country would become the world’s top diamond producer. Mpofu projected 40 million carat output annually, which would earn Zimbabwe an average $2 billion, at the $50 carat price. However, output has been trending downward since 2012, for a variety of reasons, including diminishing alluvial deposits. To sustain the $15 billion revenue claim by Mugabe, Zimbabwe would have produced at least 40 million carats annually, between 2009 and 2015, the year preceding his claim. This level of production would not have escaped the global diamond industry, which is always on the look-out for supply dynamics, given the impact of a supply glut on prices. Industry figures do not show any impact in global rough diamond production since Zimbabwe entered the industry in 2009. Conclusion: INCORRECT Zimbabwe did not produce diamonds worth $15 billion. There is no evidence to back up Mugabe’s claim, which has since been taken up and repeated by media, politicians and civic society groups, that Zimbabwe earned “15 or more billion dollars” from Marange diamond sales. The global rough diamond market averaged $12,63 billion between 2009 and 2015, with production averaging 126 million carats. During that time, Zimbabwe produced a cumulative 50 million carats, earning just over $2,4 billion for the seven years under review, according to data provided by industry watchdog, Kimberley Process Certification Scheme as well as other industry players. Critics of the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme have, over the years, pointed out loopholes in the watchdog’s systems, but their indications are that any leaks from the process amount to trades worth millions of dollars, not billions. To reach the level of earnings claimed by Mugabe, of $15 billion or more, Zimbabwe would have produced an average 40 million carats annually, output which could not go unnoticed in the industry, given its impact on global supply. Zimbabwe’s level of production implied in the claim would have seen the country supplanting Russia, currently the world’s largest producer, whose output averaged37 million carats in the period under review. About the author: Nelson Banya is a researcher with ZimFact. diamondseconomyminingOUR PICKS	news-zimfact	2024-05-27T18:41:47.087066	March 16, 2018	{ "license": "Creative Commons - Attribution - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/", "url": "https://zimfact.org/did-zimbabwe-lose-15-billion-in-diamond-revenue-zimbabwes-15-billion-diamond-question/", "author": "administrator" }
103	Do 80,000 unsafe abortions take place in Zimbabwe every year? - ZimFact Ngoni Mhuruyengwe November 4, 2019 CLAIM: As many as 80,000 illegal abortions take place in Zimbabwe every year. VERDICT: True, the latest available research shows that induced abortions in the country range between 54,000 and 86,000 per year. Background: Dr Ruth Labode, the chairperson of the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Health and Child Care, recently told Parliament that as much as 80,000 illegal abortions take place in Zimabwe annually. “Illegal abortions in Zimbabwe have increased from 60 000 to 80 000 per annum – which is very unsustainable,” Labode said, as she argued to a review of Zimbabwe’s Termination of Pregnancy Act, which was passed in 1977. The Termination of Pregnancy Act places restrictions on abortion. According to the law, abortion is only permitted in Zimbabwe in the following circumstances: A magistrate must certify that conception resulted from unlawful intercourse. For medical grounds of abortion, two physicians must certify that the medical/physical reasons justifying abortion exist. Zimbabwe’s National Guidelines for Post-Abortion Care define abortion as “Spontaneous or induced termination of pregnancy before 22 weeks gestation or less than 500 grams foetal weight.” The guidelines define unsafe abortion as “Termination of an unwanted pregnancy either by persons lacking the necessary skills or in an environment lacking the minimal standards, or both.” Sources of Data: Because abortion is restricted by law and stigmatised due to religious and cultural factors, it is diffiicult to collect data on the incidence of abortion in Zimbabwe. However, according to Dr Bernard Madzima, Director of Family Health in the Ministry of Health and Child Care, some data on abortion is collected routinely through the health information systems and periodically, through surveys. As early as 2001, Zimbabwe’s health ministry estimated that between 60,000 and 80,000 unsafe abortions were taking place in the country, annually. However, in 2016, the first national study on the provision of post-abortion care, the incidence of induced abortion and unintended pregnancy in Zimbabwe was undertaken. Zimbabwe’s Ministry of Health and Child Care collaborated with the University of Zimbabwe College of Health Science–Clinical Trials Unit and the Guttmacher Institute of New York, in the United States of America to conduct the study. The basis of the study was examination of cases of post-abortion care (PAC) in the country. Although Zimbabwe restricts abortion, the government has an extensive network of health facilities providing PAC services in a bid to improve sexual reproductive health and reduce deaths caused by abortion complications. With a high maternal mortality rate between 614 and 651 out of 100,000 live births, according to official data, the Zimbabwe government has sought to provide and expand post-abortion care because unsafe abortions account for as much as 20% of all maternal deaths recorded in the country. The PAC facilities, patients and experts provided the basis on which the 2016 study was conducted. Study methods: The 2016 study used the Abortion Incidence Complications Method (AICM), which indirectly estimates the incidence of induced abortion by obtaining a national estimate of post-abortion care (PAC) cases. Using this statistic, the study then estimates what proportion of all induced abortions in the country would result in women receiving PAC. The 2016 study was made up of three different national surveys. The first was a census of 227 health facilities with PAC capacity, the second was a prospective survey of 127 women seeking abortion-related care in a nationally-representative sample of those facilities and the third was a sample of 118 Zimbabwean experts knowledgeable about abortion in the country. The estimate of induced abortion, along with census and Demographic Health Survey data, was used to estimate unintended pregnancy. Results: The study estimated that 25,245 PAC patients were treated in Zimbabwe in 2016, but there were critical gaps in their care, including stock-outs of essential PAC medicines at half of facilities. The survey of health professionals with knowledge about about abortion was used to calculate a multiplier, or an estimate of the number of women having abortions who either did not experience a complication or did have a complication but did not receive treatment, for every one woman receiving PAC. The national total of induced abortions is the product of the multiplier and the annual PAC caseload. As a result, approximately 66,847 induced abortions (uncertainty interval (UI): 54,000–86,171) were estimated to have occurred in Zimbabwe in 2016, which translates to a national rate of 17.8 (UI: 14.4–22.9) abortions per 1,000 women aged 15–49. Overall, 40% of pregnancies were unintended in 2016, and one-quarter of all unintended pregnancies ended in abortion. Conclusion: Although data on abortion is hard to get due to legal restrictions on the procedure, the latest available research, which drew on health facilities providing post-abortion care, some women seeking treatment as well as experts involved with the subject, provides a scientific basis to support the claim that as much as 80,000 unsafe abortions take place in Zimbabwe every year. ABORTIONFEATURED	news-zimfact	2024-05-27T18:41:47.087066	November 4, 2019	{ "license": "Creative Commons - Attribution - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/", "url": "https://zimfact.org/do-80000-unsafe-abortions-take-place-in-zimbabwe-every-year/", "author": "Ngoni Mhuruyengwe" }
104	Do new coronavirus variants evade PCR test detection? - ZimFact Ngoni Mhuruyengwe March 2, 2021 On February 16, 2021, the government announced that a new coronavirus variant first reported in South Africa in December 2020 was now the dominant strain in Zimbabwe, making up 61 percent of all infections. According to a recent genomic sequencing study, 61% of all infections in Zimbabwe are caused by that new variant, the government said. This has raised questions about how effective PCR tests are in detecting the new variant and whether the new strains can evade detection, giving false COVID-19 test results. Experts, including the World Health Organisation, have, however, said there is no evidence that the predominant PCR tests currently in use globally is unable to detect the new coronavirus variants. “No impact on testing” The universally recommended test to detect the virus which causes COVID-19 is the real-time reverse transcriptase (RT-PCR) which targets the virus’ genetic material to confirm infection. The PCR test targets various genes making up the coronavirus, including the Spike (S) gene, Envelope (E) gene, Membrane (M) gene and Nucleocapsid (N) gene. According to the Foundation for Innovative New Diagnostics (FIND), a WHO collaborating Centre for Laboratory Strengthening and Diagnostic Technology Evaluation, the three major new variants first detected in South Africa, the United Kingdom and Brazil largely show mutations in the S gene. According to the World Health Organisation, most PCR tests target multiple genes, not just the S gene. “Most PCR assays in use worldwide will use multiple targets and therefore the impact of the variant on diagnostics is not anticipated to be significant,” the WHO says. “PCR assays targeting the S gene are not widely used for primary detection, and many assays target multiple genes,” FIND says. The US Centres for Disease Control (CDC) concurs. “Most commercial reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR)-based tests have multiple targets to detect the virus, such that even if a mutation impacts one of the targets, the other RT-PCR targets will still work,” the CDC says. FEATURED	news-zimfact	2024-05-27T18:41:47.087066	March 2, 2021	{ "license": "Creative Commons - Attribution - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/", "url": "https://zimfact.org/do-new-coronavirus-variants-evade-pcr-test-detection/", "author": "Ngoni Mhuruyengwe" }
105	Do the majority of young women think it is acceptable for women to be beaten up by their intimate partners? Yes, they do - ZimFact Ngoni Mhuruyengwe November 19, 2018 In Zimbabwe, about 1 in 3 women aged 15 to 49 have experienced physical violence and about 1 in 4 women have experienced sexual violence since the age of 15 Source: UNFPA Zimbabwe : Partially Incorrect Issues of gender based violence tend to be at the forefront of discourse especially when the 16 days of Activism Against Gender Based Violence are commemorated at the end of November into early December. This year the theme is Orange the World: #HearMeToo. The United Population Fund Zimbabwe, made the claim on its website that about 1 in 3 women aged 15 to 49 have experienced physical violence and about 1 in 4 women have experienced sexual violence since the age of 15. Contacted by ZimFact on the source of the statistics, UNFPA Zimbabwe GBV Coordinator, Verena Bruno, said the statistics where from the Zimbabwe Demographic and Health Survey. In Zimbabwe the definition is found in The Domestic Violence Act [Section 5:16] of 2007 where it also brings in elements of gender based violence as well as intimate partner violence. It defines it as any unlawful act, omission or behaviour which results in death or the direct infliction of physical, sexual or mental injury to any complainant by a respondent and includes among others: physical abuse; sexual abuse; emotional, verbal and psychological abuse and economic abuse committed by a person against a spouse, child or other person who is a member of the household. The act also criminals some abusive customary rites such as virginity testing and forced wife inheritance. The World Health Organisation (WHO) has a definition for intimate partner violence. It defines IPV as ‘any behaviour within an intimate relationship that causes physical, psychological or sexual harm to those in the relationship’. This can be physical, sexual, emotional or controlling behaviour. The health organisation notes that the term ‘domestic violence’ is used in many countries to refer to partner violence but the term can also encompass child or elder abuse, or abuse by any member of a household. The current ZDHS is from 2015. While ZimStat carried out one in 2017, the data has not yet been published. The data from the survey shows that thirty-five percent of women in Zimbabwe have experienced physical violence since age 15 and 14 percent of women age 15-49 reported that they have experienced sexual violence at some point in their lives. Thirty five percent would translate to about 1 in 3, while the 14 percent would translate to about 1 in 7. United Nations Women also has the same data stating that lifetime physical and or sexual intimate partner violence for Zimbabwe is at 35%. This is the proportion of ever partnered women aged 15-49 years experiencing intimate partner physical and/or sexual violence at least once in their lifetime. Although the ZDHS is also cited as a source by UN Women, the survey uses 35% for physical violence and not sexual violence. The Zimbabwe statistics fall within the global trends with WHO reporting that in a study of 9 countries 13–61% of women reported ever having experienced physical violence by a partner and 6–59% reported sexual violence by a partner at some point in their lives. In this study Zambia had 48% for physical violence, and 17% for sexual violence, both being higher than the Zimbabwe averages. 65% of young women in Zimbabwe, ages 15 and 19, believe that intimate partner violence is justified in certain circumstances with the highest acceptance occurring among married adolescents . The Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey of 2014 assessed the attitudes of women to intimate partner violence in the following circumstances: if she goes out without telling him; neglects the children; argues with him; refuses to have sex with him; burns the food; and commits infidelity. The acceptance by younger women is almost twice as high (65%) as that of older women 45-49 (35%) in believing violence is justified for the six reasons above. The study also shows that 33% of women 20-49 years were married before attaining the age of 18. Virginia Muwanigwa, chief executive officer for the Zimbabwe Gender Commission told ZimFact: “Acceptance of violence by survivors stems from socialisation which has normalised gender based violence in intimate relationships. This is reinforced through learning within the family where incidences are minimised, within the media and then through being taught by aunties that violence is part of marriage. “It has been noted that communities perpetuate violence by treating is as a minor case unless it results in death, where quantum of damages shows that it is a serious issue. In fact, it is alleged that some men, as part of the community, believe that violence begets respect.” UNFPA Zimbabwe claims that about 1 in 3 women aged 15-49 have experienced physical violence and about 1 in 4 women have experienced sexual violence since the age of 15. They cite the ZDHS as the source of the statistics. However, the ZDHS 2015, states that that thirty-five percent of women in Zimbabwe have experienced physical violence since age 15 and 14 percent of women age 15-49 reported that they have experienced sexual violence at some point in their lives. This translates to about I in 3 women for the first part of the statement and about 1 in 7 for the second part, specifically experiencing sexual violence at some point in their lives, not necessarily since the age of 15. ZimFact, therefore, rates the claim by UNFPA Zimbabwe as partially incorrect. FEATUREDOUR PICKS	news-zimfact	2024-05-27T18:41:47.087066	November 19, 2018	{ "license": "Creative Commons - Attribution - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/", "url": "https://zimfact.org/do-the-majority-of-young-women-think-it-is-acceptable-for-women-to-be-beaten-up-by-their-intimate-partners-yes-they-do/", "author": "Ngoni Mhuruyengwe" }
106	Do you read before sharing? Here's why it's important to read beyond the headline - ZimFact Ngoni Mhuruyengwe November 10, 2021 Do you regularly read past headlines, or headlines alone are usually enough? A recent Sunday News headline shows the importance of reading beyond headlines. It read: “Government considers another currency”. A photo of the headline’s street banner was shared widely on social media, eliciting strong debate. Some social media users criticized the government for once again introducing another currency, when the Zimbabwe dollar was only reintroduced in 2019. But was this banner about a new currency? No. The actual article quoted an official saying Zimbabwe was assessing whether it can introduce cryptocurrency, a form of digital currency. The article said: “The Government is weighing options of adopting cryptocurrency as a legal payment service and is consulting various stakeholders on the merits of the virtual currency.” The official quoted was Charles Wekwete, Head of the e-government Technology Unit in the Office of the President and Cabinet. He was speaking at a Computer Society of Zimbabwe meeting in Victoria Falls on November 6. Wekwete was responding to a question on whether will consider cryptocurrency. The article quoted him as saying: “Government has put in place mechanism to try and gather views from various sectors of society in order to eventually formulate policies.” On Tuesday, November 9, Information Minister Monica Mutsvangwa, responding to reaction around the headline, said there were no plans for a new currency other than the Zimbabwe dollar. She added: “Like most countries in the world, the government of Zimbabwe through its financial technology FINTECH group, is studying Central Banking Digital Currency (CBDC) as opposed to cryptocurrency, bitcoin, or any currency of derivatives.” By sharing a headline or link without actually reading it, one can miss key facts. This may spread misinformation. Because of this, social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter now ask users to first read an article before sharing it. What to do? First, always read beyond the headline before sharing. Even legitimate news sources may use misleading headlines, sometimes deliberately, to gain attention. Before sharing, make sure to read the article itself to make sure that it matches the headline. Secondly, check your emotional reaction. Headlines can be crafted to bring out readers’ emotions. Research shows that content that causes anger is shared faster than any other content. FEATURED	news-zimfact	2024-05-27T18:41:47.087066	November 10, 2021	{ "license": "Creative Commons - Attribution - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/", "url": "https://zimfact.org/do-you-read-before-sharing-heres-why-its-important-to-read-beyond-the-headline/", "author": "Ngoni Mhuruyengwe" }
107	Do Zimbabweans abroad send US$1 billion home annually? - ZimFact Ngoni Mhuruyengwe June 27, 2018 CLAIM: ZIMBABWE’S substantial population living and working in foreign countries is often credited with helping sustain the country’s economy through remittances. Factchecked by Nelson Banya Frequently, newspapers and public figures estimate Diaspora remittances into Zimbabwe to average US$1 billion every year. Recently, presidential candidate Nkosana Moyo of the Alliance for People’s Agenda cited the figure: FINANCING DEVELOPMENT The International Monetary Fund (IMF) defines remittances as “household income from foreign economies arising mainly from the temporary or permanent movement of people to those economies”. Remittances have come to be acknowledged as a major source of financing for development in low to middle-income economies, such as Zimbabwe. According to the World Bank, migrant remittances into developing countries amounted to US$429 billion in 2016, exceeding official development assistance (ODA), in addition to being more stable than private capital flows. Remittance flows into sub-Saharan Africa’s economies were expected to inject US$34 billion in 2017, according to World Bank projections. Both the IMF and World Bank acknowledge the difficulties in compiling accurate remittance data, particularly in countries such as Zimbabwe, where unconventional channels are used to move funds. The biggest segment of Zimbabwe’s non-resident population – a significant portion of which is undocumented – is in South Africa. These Zimbabweans are likely to rely on informal money transfer methods to send funds back home, meaning the official data provides an incomplete picture. Zimbabwe’s data, sourced from the central bank, is largely drawn from banks and official money transfer agents. CONFLATED DATA Zimbabwe ranks highly among global remittance recipient countries, according to the World Bank’s 2016 data. The country is ranked 36 in the world and fifth in Africa, behind Nigeria, Egypt, Morocco and Ghana. However, the World Bank’s 2016 remittance data for Zimbabwe, US$1.853 billion appears to be the total international transfers into the country, incorporating humanitarian assistance and migrant remittances. In Zimbabwe’s case, humanitarian assistance consistently exceeds diaspora remittances, although the two combine to propel total transfers into the country over the US$1 billion mark annually. Zimbabwean authorities often conflate the two strands together when they publish remittance statistics, frequently leading to confusion and overstatement of diaspora remittances. Source: Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe/Ministry of Finance CONCLUSION The claim that Zimbabweans living and working abroad send in excess of US$1 billion back home every year is not accurate. Since 2009, when the country adopted the use of foreign currencies, chiefly the United States dollar and South Africa’s rand, diaspora remittances peaked at US$935 million in 2015. The notion that migrant remittances exceed US$1 billion seems to stem from the tendency, in some official reporting, to incorporate humanitarian assistance into the numbers. Nelson Banya is Deputy Editor of ZimFact IMFNKOSANA MOYOODAOUR PICKSRBZWORLD BANK	news-zimfact	2024-05-27T18:41:47.087066	June 27, 2018	{ "license": "Creative Commons - Attribution - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/", "url": "https://zimfact.org/do-zimbabweans-abroad-send-us1-billion-home-annually/", "author": "Ngoni Mhuruyengwe" }
108	Do Zimbabwe’s junior doctors earn $329, as widely tweeted? - ZimFact Ngoni Mhuruyengwe March 23, 2018 Zimbabwean junior doctors have been on strike since 1 March, 2018 over a number of issues. These include remuneration, drug shortages and poor infrastructure, which they say the government is not addressing, according to the doctors’ association. But do the junior doctors really earn $329 as one of the strike placards stated, a figure which has since been widely tweeted? Researched by ZimFact Correspondent Claim: Junior doctors are paid $329 a month. Conclusion: Incorrect How much do the junior doctors in Zimbabwe earn? Below is a breakdown of the basic salary and allowances that a junior doctor in Zimbabwe gets; According to the doctors’ association, doctors have about 160 hours or more on call (overtime) in a month but the government has been paying for less than 80 hours and the housing allowance is only given to doctors who do not have accommodation within the medical institutions that they work in. Conclusion: INCORRECT While junior doctors earn a minimum basic salary of $329, they are paid allowances which take their monthly earnings above the stated $329. The above table provides a breakdown of junior doctors’ remuneration packages. Who is a Junior Doctor in Zimbabwe? Organogram showing the stages which doctors in Zimbabwe go through up to the stage where they are legible to obtain an open practicing certificate. Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Health and Child Care Dr. Gerald Gwinji says a Junior Medical Resident Officer (JRMO) and a Senior Resident Medical Officer (SRMO) fall in the lowest rank of the doctors’ category. JRMO AND SRMO are often referred to as interns or housemen,… “it basically means they are people who are still on training, they would have completed their basic degree but will still be going under a lot of tutorship under leadership of more senior doctors,” says Gwinji. According to Gwinji, after completion of the 2 year internship, one then moves a step further into being a Hospital Medical Officer at a central hospital or a General Medical Officer at a provincial or district hospital. “During the two years of internship, the junior doctors rotate through the various specialties and sub-specialties which include medicine, surgery, pediatrics, obstetrics, gynecology, anesthetics, psychiatry to have in depth learning in those specific areas,” says Gwinji. Depending with the path one choses after internship, one has to spend one or two more years to obtain a practicing certificate. “If one chooses to be a government medical officer who works in a provincial or district hospital, they acquire their practicing certificate after one year because they are working independently and learn their administration faster,” he says. If one chooses to be at a central hospital, they acquire their practicing certificate after two years of service because it takes longer to learn because the team is bigger and there is a whole layer of people above. *Article updated on 23 March, 2018. Healthjunior docrorssalariesstrike	news-zimfact	2024-05-27T18:41:47.087066	March 23, 2018	{ "license": "Creative Commons - Attribution - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/", "url": "https://zimfact.org/do-zimbabwes-junior-doctors-earn-329-as-widely-tweeted/", "author": "Ngoni Mhuruyengwe" }
109	Does 1Gig of data cost US$75 in Zimbabwe, as claimed by the BBC? - ZimFact Ngoni Mhuruyengwe January 22, 2020 A report by the BBC claims Zimbabweans pay US$75 for a gigabyte of data By ZimFact Staff CLAIM: Zimbabwe data prices are US$75 per Gigabyte, the most expensive internet prices in the world. VERDICT: Not true. The last tariff approved by the telecommunications regulator, POTRAZ, is a maximum of ZWL19 cents per megabyte. BACKGROUND In January, in a report comparing the cost of data around the world, the BBC claimed that internet prices in Zimbabwe are the highest in the world, at US$75 per Gigabyte. This is inaccurate. On October 24 2019, the Postal and Telecommunications Regulatory Authority of Zimbabwe (POTRAZ) set new tariffs for mobile phone operators and internet service providers. POTRAZ approved a 95.39% increase in tariffs, saying the tariffs set in August 2019 had “been rendered unsustainable as the operating environment has further deteriorated due to inflationary pressures”. Internet prices were set at a maximum of ZWL 19 cents per megabyte for non-promotional out of bundle) data. This translates to ZWL190 per Gig. In US dollar terms, the cost per Gig is US$11.10 at the official interbank rate, and US$8.20 per Gig if translated at the unofficial market rate, which traders in Harare put at ZWL23 against the US dollar as at January 22, 2020. Currency confusion This is not the first time that media outlets have inaccurately reported that Zimbabwe has among the highest data prices in the world. In March 2019, technology magazine Cable also reported that Zimbabwe had the most expensive data prices in the world, at US$75 a Gig. This was disputed by POTRAZ, which published statistics by Communication Regulators Association of Southern Africa (CRASA) showing that Zimbabwe’s data prices were among the lowest in the region at the time. The inaccuracies on data prices are largely based on misunderstanding over the currency regime in Zimbabwe. Until February 2019, the Zimbabwe dollar was officially pegged at 1:1 against the US dollar. However, in real terms, the US dollar had already been trading at a premium to the local unit, especially since the introduction, in 2016, of bond notes. VERDICT The claim that the internet costs US$75 per Gig in Zimbabwe is not true. The maximum tariff as at January 2020 was 19 Zimbabwean cents per megabyte. FEATURED	news-zimfact	2024-05-27T18:41:47.087066	January 22, 2020	{ "license": "Creative Commons - Attribution - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/", "url": "https://zimfact.org/does-1gig-of-data-cost-us75-in-zimbabwe-as-claimed-by-the-bbc/", "author": "Ngoni Mhuruyengwe" }
110	Fact Check: Whose face is it: Does CCC own Chamisa’s face symbol? - ZimFact Ngoni Mhuruyengwe January 30, 2024 Claim: Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC) Secretary-General Sengezo Tshabangu said CCC had sole legal rights to use the face of its former leader Nelson Chamisa as the party symbol, according to a local media report. In an Interview with CITE, Tshabangu responded to accusations that he was running away with Nelson Chamisa’s face by saying. “I have no doubt President Chamisa presented his face as a symbol for us to use and we registered that face so he can’t claim today that, that is his face, that’s the face of the party and we are going to continue using it. Nobody is going to use that face, we will stop anybody that is going to use that face save for the party”. He added that if Chamisa decided to leave the party, the symbol stays because it is company property. Chamisa announced on January 25 that he was quitting CCC, charging that it had been infiltrated and was being destroyed by President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s ruling ZANU-PF party. Is this true or false : Verdict: False Section 14 of the Trade Marks Act says it is unlawful to maintain registration of a trademark which through fault or neglect on the part of the registered proprietor or his assignee, has become one which is likely to deceive or cause confusion or which for any reason, would not be entitled to protection in a court of law. The onus is on the Registrar to decide whether a trademark is likely to deceive or cause confusion upon receipt of an undertaking by the proprietor, only then will he or she limit the use of a trademark. Section 15 of the Trade Marks Act prohibits the use of identical or resembling trade marks especially if one of the proprietors is already on the register The Registrar has the obligation to consider any matter involving deception or confusion, he shall have regard to the likelihood of deception or confusion arising between any trade mark as applied in relation to goods and any trade mark as applied in relation to services. Aggrieved parties have a right to appeal the decision of the Registrar under this section. Trade Marks Act Interview with CITE, Veritas FEATUREDTRENDING	news-zimfact	2024-05-27T18:41:47.087066	January 30, 2024	{ "license": "Creative Commons - Attribution - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/", "url": "https://zimfact.org/does-ccc-own-chamisas-face-symbol/", "author": "Ngoni Mhuruyengwe" }
111	Does Matabeleland South have one school for every four wards? - ZimFact Ngoni Mhuruyengwe November 11, 2020 CLAIM: There is only one school serving four wards in Matabeleland South province. Source: The claim was made by Member of Parliament Sipho Mokone and captured by the Hansard of November 3, 2020. https://www.parlzim.gov.zw/national-assembly-hansard/national-assembly-hansard-03-november-2020-vol-47-no-05 RATING: Misleading. The MP’s assertion creates the impression that the province has 42 schools, one for each of the 168 wards in Matabeleland South. According to the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education, Matabeleland South has a total of 702 schools, giving an average of four schools per ward. During debate in Parliament on November 3, 2020, lawmaker Sipho Mokone (MDC-T) called for the establishment of more schools in Matabeleland Province, which she represents. “The number of primary and secondary schools in Matabeleland South does not match the number of wards that are found in that province. As I alluded to earlier on, Matabeleland South has 168 wards, but if you go on the ground you will discover that there is only one school serving four wards,” Mokone said. How many schools are in Matabeleland South? The province has 702 primary and secondary schools, according to the 2019 annual education statistics report published in May 2020 by the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education. This gives the province an average number of schools of just over four per ward. Provinces ranked by school-going age population: While the MP could have been making a point about the distribution of schools in the province, with the possibility that some clusters of wards could have only one school serving them, data from the education ministry shows that even the districts with the least number of schools, Umzingwane and Mangwe, have at least two schools per ward. Conclusion: The MPs claim that as many as four wards in Matabeleland South are served by one school is not backed by available data, which shows that the province has, on average, four schools per ward. FEATURED	news-zimfact	2024-05-27T18:41:47.087066	November 11, 2020	{ "license": "Creative Commons - Attribution - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/", "url": "https://zimfact.org/does-matabeleland-south-have-one-school-for-every-four-wards/", "author": "Ngoni Mhuruyengwe" }
112	Does MDC Alliance’s $100 billion economy promise check out? - ZimFact Ngoni Mhuruyengwe May 7, 2018 MDC Alliance principal and former Finance Minister, Tendai Biti, has repeatedly claimed that, if elected into government, the opposition coalition would propel Zimbabwe to a $100 billion economy in eight years. Factchecked by Nelson Banya Biti told an MDC Alliance rally in Murehwa on March 24, 2018, that the $100 billion economy target could be reached in under eight years. He repeated the claim in a recent interview with 263Chat: 263Chat: You are on record speaking about a 100 billion (dollar) economy… Biti: Yes! That’s the vision, that’s achievable, that’s achievable. We will build a hundred-billion-dollar economy in eight years on the back of a growth rate of 8,5 percent economy (sic) anchored on five things. Number one, macroeconomic stability, this government can’t run the economy… We have got a budget deficit right now that is 30 percent of GDP. Number two, leveraging the mining sector, which can create billions and billions of dollars. We lost $15 billion in three years, from diamonds. One mineral alone. So, we’ll leverage the mineral sector. We’ll leverage our agriculture, the agro-industrial transformation of our country. We’ll leverage the low hanging fruit that is tourism. We’ll leverage – and this is very key – the infrastructure…the gross capital formation, rebuilding of roads, dams, our transport network and in eight years we will have a hundred-billion-dollar economy. It’s very possible, it’s very easy and, in fact, as I’m talking to you right now, we are actually working on our economic models on the kind of thing we will expect from livestock, the kind of thing we will expect from tobacco in the economic model that will produce that hundred-billion-dollar economy. That’s a vision, that’s a vision and we’re going to achieve that. The figures do not add up Zimbabwe’s official 2018 budget statement, presented on December 7, 2017, estimates that the country’s real gross domestic product was $14,5 billion. It projected real GDP to reach $15.2 billion this year. Using the geometrical growth calculation formula Yt = Y0(1+r)t – Zimbabwe’s $15 billion economy – growing at 8 percent (or 8.5 percent for that matter), cannot possibly amount to $100 billion. Instead, growing at 8 percent annually for the next eight years, the economy would grow to just under $28 billion, as illustrated below: $15 billion(1+0.08)⁸=$27.76 billion The economy would need to grow at an astounding 27 percent per year, to expand to $100 billion in eight years. Zimbabwe’s economy has, in recent years, achieved double-digit growth. This was off a low base, following the end of a decade-long recession in 2009, when former President Robert Mugabe set up a power-sharing government with the opposition, a move which saw Biti assuming the finance minister’s role. Rule of 70 A less complex, if less precise but generally accepted, method to project growth is the rule of 70. The rule of 70 is used to estimate the number of years it takes for a certain variable to double. To estimate the number of years for a variable to double, the number 70 is divided by the growth rate of the variable. Therefore, using Biti’s 8 percent growth rate, it would take nine years for Zimbabwe’s GDP to grow to $30 billion, which is double the economy’s current size. Conclusion: Biti’s claim that an MDC Alliance government would build a $100 billion economy in eight years, at an annual growth rate of 8 percent, is premised on erroneous calculations. It would require a growth rate of 27 percent to build the current GDP to the levels envisaged by the former finance minister. Alternatively, it would take 25 years, at 8 percent growth, for Zimbabwe’s current GDP to reach $100 billion. Nelson Banya is Deputy Editor of Zimfact OUR PICKS	news-zimfact	2024-05-27T18:41:47.087066	May 7, 2018	{ "license": "Creative Commons - Attribution - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/", "url": "https://zimfact.org/does-mdc-alliances-100-billion-economy-promise-check-out/", "author": "Ngoni Mhuruyengwe" }
113	Does Mwonzora’s name remain on the 2023 Presidential Ballot? Ngoni Mhuruyengwe August 11, 2023 Claim: On 8 August 2023 Zimbabwe presidential aspirant, Douglas Mwonzora of the Movement for Democratic Change – Tsvangirai (MDC-T) announced his withdrawal from 23 August 2023 general election. But despite his decision local state media quoted the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) stating that Mwonzora’s name would remain on the presidential ballot for 2023 since he missed the 21-day deadline for candidates to pull out of the race. Verdict: True or False? True This is captured in section 107 subsection 1 and 2 of the Electoral Act which states that a nominated candidate for election as President may, by notice in writing addressed to the Chief Elections Officer, withdraw his or her candidature at any time before twenty-one days from the day … on which the poll in an election to the office of President is to be taken. On receipt of a notice of withdrawal in terms of subsection (1), the Chief Elections Officer shall cause the withdrawal to be published in the Gazette and in all newspapers of mass circulation in Zimbabwe. In light on the above provision of the Electoral Act, it is too late for ZEC to remove Mwonzora from the Ballot, as he made his announcement 15 days before polling day. Any votes cast for a candidate who has withdrawn will be considered as spoilt ballots. Zimbabwe Electoral Act Zimbabwe Election Commission FEATUREDTRENDING	news-zimfact	2024-05-27T18:41:47.087066	August 11, 2023	{ "license": "Creative Commons - Attribution - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/", "url": "https://zimfact.org/does-mwonzora-remain-on-the-2023-election-ballot/", "author": "Ngoni Mhuruyengwe" }
114	No, the new Marriages Bill doesn't ban lobola, as claimed by social media sources - ZimFact Ngoni Mhuruyengwe June 15, 2020 CLAIM: The proposed new marriages law bans the traditional practice of paying lobola. Source: Various social media claims VERDICT: FALSE. The proposed new law only seeks to remove lobola as a prerequisite for the registration of customary unions. It does not abolish the traditional practice. Zimbabwe’s new Marriages Bill, which was approved by the lower house of Parliament on June 4 and is on the verge of being passed by the Senate, seeks to repeal and replace the current Customary Marriages Act [Chapter 5:07] and the Marriage Act [Chapter 5:11]. The result will be a combined Act of Parliament governing marriages in Zimbabwe, instead of the current two. The new legislation will also align the country’s marriage law with the Constitution, in terms of, among other provisions, gender equality and outlawing child marriages. However, the provision that seeks to remove the requirement of a marriage consideration – bride price, lobola or roora – has generated some controversy. This provision has been misinterpreted to mean that the new law seeks to abolish lobola. Currently, marriages that happen under various African customs are regulated under the Customary Marriages Act of 1951. In terms of this law, a customary marriage is completed only after the guardian of the woman has consented to the union and has agreed to the form and amount of the lobola. Section 4(2) of the Customary Marriages Act says: “In addition to the customary marriage officer and the parties to the marriage, there shall be present at the solemnisation of every marriage in terms of this Act the following other persons— (a) the guardian of the woman or a deputy appointed by such guardian: Provided that, if the solemnization of the marriage has been authorized by a magistrate in terms of section five or if the customary marriage officer is satisfied that the guardian of the woman has consented to the solemnization of the marriage and has agreed to the form and amount of the marriage consideration, the presence of the guardian of the woman or his deputy shall not be necessary; and (b) a witness, who shall be the chief, headman or village-head of the guardian of the woman or such other person as the customary marriage officer may approve.” Section 15 of the new Marriages Bill only requires that both parties to a customary marriage give their consent and satisfy other legal requirements. These requirements no longer include the presence of the woman’s guardian and confirmation of lobola. Section 15(5) of the proposed law reads: “If the marriage officer is satisfied— (a) that the intended husband and wife freely and fully consent to the marriage; and (b) that no lawful impediment exists to the proposed marriage; he or she shall proceed in terms of section 30 and such marriage shall be a valid marriage contracted according to customary law.” Presenting the Marriages Bill in the Senate on Wednesday, Justice Minister Ziyambi Ziyambi said the proposed changes sought to address the problem of unregistered customary marriages. “The first issue that I wish to address is the problem of unregistered customary law unions. The transfer of marriage consideration known as roora or lobola in our indigenous culture, traditionally solidified bonds between families, but a disturbing trend has developed over time to commoditise or monitise the marriage relation for material gain,” Ziyambi said. “Some guardians of brides hold out for the highest possible gain for themselves, while others refuse consent to the formalisation of marriage until the last cent of the marriage consideration is paid. This is why so many of our customary and non-customary marriages are unregistered. “To solve this, the Bill will no longer require a customary marriage officer to satisfy himself or herself that there has been an agreement on the transfer of marriage consideration. Please take note that the Bill does not abolish the institution of marriage consideration. It is not saying that. If the parties do agree on the transfer of such consideration, the registrar is under obligation to record it when registering the marriage so as to minimise disputes about the terms of such an agreement.” Zimbabwe’s proposed new marriage law does not ban lobola. While the new law seeks to remove the requirement that customary marriage officers satisfy themselves that lobola has been paid before solemnising customary unions, this is no longer the case. But there is no provision in the new law that abolishes lobola.	news-zimfact	2024-05-27T18:41:47.087066	June 15, 2020	{ "license": "Creative Commons - Attribution - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/", "url": "https://zimfact.org/does-new-marriage-bill-ban-lobola-as-claimed-by-social-media-sources/", "author": "Ngoni Mhuruyengwe" }
115	Does Parliamentary committee want to push age of sexual consent down to 12 years? - ZimFact Ngoni Mhuruyengwe March 8, 2019 A claim that a parliamentary committee seeks to lower the age of consent to 12 years has triggered outrage. By ZimFact Staff CLAIM: On Wednesday, 6 March 2019, votermobilisation portal, Go Zim tweetedthat the Zimbabwe Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Health and Child Carewas pushing for the age of sexual consent to be reduced from 16 to 12 years. VERDICT: False. At least two membersof the committee, including its chairperson, Dr Ruth Labode, say Go Zim misunderstood the committee’sdrive to reduce the age of consent when it comes to access to health services,not sexual consent. In fact, the committee supports the current push towardsaligning the age of sexual consent, currently 16 years, with the age of maritalconsent, which is 18 years, according to the Constitution. How did the confusion arise? According to DrLabode, the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Health and Child Care met inKadoma last week to deliberate on proposed amendments to the Public Health Act.The current Act was enacted in 1924 and is being updated to align to the newConstitution and to meet current conditions in the health sector. “The issue is aboutminors’ access to health. Our proposal to the Permanent Secretary of Health, Dr(Gerald) Gwinji was that, since we’re pushing the age of consent to 18, we needa provision for 16 year olds who, in terms of the current law, can consent tosex, to be able to access health services even without their parents,” Labodesaid. “Because a 16-year-oldis a minor, she cannot, for instance, get contraceptives or get STI treatmentwithout her parents. The committee never said anything about reducing the ageof consent, we actually support calls to raise it. We don’t know where thatcame from.” Another committeemember, Jasmine Toffa, responded to the Go Zim claim on Twitter: “Not true. Access to health is the bone of contention. That is what we’re advocating for. Currently, one under 18 has to be accompanied by a parent to access health,” Toffa said. “We are pushing forthe alignment of the law on the age of consent to the age of majority of 18.” A question of access to health Rights groups saylegal inconsistencies around sexual and marriage consent put sexuallyadolescent girls at risk. According to anAmnesty International report; confusion around the legal age ofconsent for sex, marriage and accessing health services is leaving adolescentgirls more vulnerable to unwanted pregnancies and at higher risk of HIVinfection. “Thereality is that many adolescents are sexually active before they are 18 and thegovernment must act to ensure that they can access the services and advice theyneed to help safeguard their health and their futures,” says Deprose Muchena,Amnesty International’s Regional Director for Southern Africa. “Whileage of consent provisions may be intended to protect against sexual abuse andchild marriage, it is unacceptable that they be used to deny adolescents theirrights to sexual and reproductive health information and services.” AmnestyInternational says demographic health data shows that, in Zimbabwe, 40% ofgirls and 24% of boys are sexually active before they reach the age of 18. What does the law say? A January 20, 2016Constitutional Court ruling effectively set 18 as the minimum age of marriage. However, the CriminalLaw Codification Act sets the age of sexual consent at 16 years. This means 16year olds can still have sex, even though they are not allowed to get married. Since theConstitutional Court ruling, there has been a campaign to have the age ofsexual consent aligned to the age of marriage consent. In March 2017, thenVice President Emmerson Mnangagwa told Parliament that government wasconsidering raising the age of sexual consent to 18 years, in line with theminimum age of marriage. Conclusion The ParliamentaryPortfolio Committee on Health and Child Care is not pushing for the reductionin the age of sexual consent. It is, however, championing access to health carefor sexually active persons below the age of 18 years, who currently requireparental consent to access sexual health services. FEATURED	news-zimfact	2024-05-27T18:41:47.087066	March 8, 2019	{ "license": "Creative Commons - Attribution - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/", "url": "https://zimfact.org/does-parliamentary-committee-want-to-push-age-of-sexual-consent-down-to-12-years/", "author": "Ngoni Mhuruyengwe" }
116	Does viral graphic video show a Zim border jumper attacked by a crocodile? No, it's a three-year-old video from Indonesia - ZimFact Ngoni Mhuruyengwe January 11, 2022 Viral social media posts circulated among Zimbabweans and South Africans claim to show a video of the body of a person killed by a crocodile on the Limpopo River. On January 6, 2022, a social media user posted the video, which shows part of a person’s body in the jaws of a crocodile. The user suggested that the video shows the immigration crisis on the Zimbabwe-South Africa border. This is not true. The video was taken in Indonesia in April 2019. It is true that crocodile attacks on the Limpopo River are frequent. However, it is not true that this video was taken on the Zimbabwe-South Africa border. Various media in Zimbabwe also reported on the purported attack, referencing the same video. A search for the video shows that it was taken in Sulawesi, Indonesia, in 2019. According to a report on that incident in the UK Mirror, which carries the video: “A crocodile has been captured in chilling video footage emerging from a river clutching a missing man in its jaws.” This was not the first time this video had been used to spread misinformation. There are posts from 2020 and 2021 that also claim that the video was taken at Limpopo River. How do you verify videos? Firstly, the environs in the video may be the first indicator that the caption used for the video may be untrue. In this case, the surroundings – including the colour of the water, the size of the river and the vegetation – are not typical of Limpopo River at this time of the year. By taking screenshots from the video, you can use them to do a Google reverse image search. The search will search the internet to find where else those images, or the video, have been posted before. You can also use tools like Amnesty International’s YouTube Dataviewer or download the InVid browser extension to verify where videos have been posted before. Conclusion A video purporting to show a crocodile devouring the body of a border jumper is misleading. The video was taken in April 1019, in Indonesia. FEATURED	news-zimfact	2024-05-27T18:41:47.087066	January 11, 2022	{ "license": "Creative Commons - Attribution - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/", "url": "https://zimfact.org/does-viral-graphic-video-show-a-zim-border-jumper-attacked-by-a-crocodile-no-its-a-three-year-old-video-from-indonesia/", "author": "Ngoni Mhuruyengwe" }
117	Does Zimbabwe consume as much fuel as Ethiopia, as claimed by RBZ governor? - ZimFact Ngoni Mhuruyengwe June 8, 2020 A busy taxi rank in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Picture credit – Addis Fortune CLAIM: Zimbabwe’s fuel consumption is the same as Ethiopia’s, despite the east African country’s significantly higher population. Source: Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe governor John Mangudya during a Parliamentary portfolio committee hearing. VERDICT: False. Zimbabwe’s annual fuel consumption of 1.5 billion litres for 2019, as reported by the RBZ governor, is less than half Ethiopia’s, going by the latest available official data. On June 3, Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe governor John Mangudya appeared before Parliament’s Energy portfolio committee, along with petroleum industry players. During his submission, Mangudya claimed that: “We use 1.5 billion litres of fuel in a year. Ethiopia uses 1.5 billion litres of fuel in a year. But Ethiopia has more than 100 million people…Zimbabwe has 14 to 15 million people but we all (sic) use 1.5 billion litres of fuel in a year.” [Claim appears at 2:09:45 of linked video recorded by Open Parly Zimbabwe]. Official petroleum sales data from Ethiopian Petroleum Sales Enterprise – the country’s sole importer and distributor of refined petroleum products – shows that consumption has averaged 2.4 billion litres annually since 2013. The consumption trend shows a year-on-year increase in each subsequent year since 2013, rising from 1.7 billion litres in 2013/14 to 3.48 billion litres in 2017/18, according to the latest available data. Source: Ethiopian Petroleum Sales Enterprise Conclusion: The RBZ governor’s claim that Zimbabwe has the same fuel consumption level as Ethiopia is incorrect. The latest available official data from the two countries shows that Ethiopia’s petrol and diesel usage is at least two times Zimbabwe’s consumption. FEATUREDMANGUDYARBZ	news-zimfact	2024-05-27T18:41:47.087066	June 8, 2020	{ "license": "Creative Commons - Attribution - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/", "url": "https://zimfact.org/does-zimbabwe-consume-as-much-fuel-as-ethiopia-as-claimed-by-rbz-governor/", "author": "Ngoni Mhuruyengwe" }
118	Does Zimbabwe get "more than half" Afreximbank loans? - ZimFact Ngoni Mhuruyengwe October 11, 2020 President Emmerson Mnangagwa with Afreximbank President Benedict Oramah in August 2019. Photo: newziana CLAIM: The African Export Import Bank (Afreximbank) has lent more than half its balance sheet to Zimbabwe. Source: A post by former Zimbabwe finance minister Tendai Biti on Twitter. VERDICT: Incorrect. No single region, let alone country, accounts for even half of Afreximbank’s total loans, according to the continental bank’s latest financial information. In an October 7, 2020 Tweet, former finance minister Tendai Biti said Afreximbank was “obscenely over exposed” to Zimbabwe. “More than half it’s (sic) balance sheet has been lent to Zim. This is abnormal and terrible governance,” Biti claimed. According to the bank’s latest financial statements, Afreximbank’s loans amounted to US$15.2 billion at the end of June 2020. Of this amount, Southern Africa, Zimbabwe’s region, accounts for US$2,78 billion. This is just over 18% of Afreximbank’s total loans. The bank does not break the loan data down to country level. With US$5,45 billion loans, West Africa gets the biggest portion of Afreximbank loans, 35%, followed by North Africa with US$4,22 billion or 27%. East Africa and Central Africa account for US$2,17 billion (14%) and US$655 million (4%), respectively. Most of Afreximbank loans go to the financial sector, whose share stood at 55% at the end of June 2020. Lending to central banks amounted to US$3.34 billion or 22% of total loans. Afreximbank says the quality of its loans remains within target. Non-performing loans made up 3.47% of the total book at the end of June, below the bank’s target ceiling of 4%. Banks such as Afreximbank are subjected to ratings by rating agencies, such as Fitch and Moody’s. These companies assess a bank’s loans and give independent evaluations. In a report released on September 11, 2020, Fitch said in terms of loans to countries, Gabon, Kenya, Nigeria, and Zambia account for 41% of the bank’s loans. Zimbabwe does not feature on Fitch’s list of countries with the largest loans. Fitch also said Afreximbank’s concentration risk – the risk of lending too much to one particular customer – is rated “low”. The bank’s five largest exposures accounted for 26% of the bank’s total portfolio at the end of 2019. Moody’s, another rating agency, issued its own report on July 14, 2020. According to Moody’s, Afreximbank’s loan portfolio’s concentration levels in terms of Top 10 exposures, by geography and sector, are “in the medium range” compared with other similar banks. The Top 10 receivers of Afrex loans account for less than 50% of the bank’s total loans, Moody’s says. Afreximbank has emerged as a leading source of loans for Zimbabwe, which has been frozen out of international capital markets for more than two decades. Although Afreximbank also extends credit lines to private Zimbabwean companies, the bulk of its lending to the country goes to the government through the central bank. The Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe’s total foreign debt stood at nearly US$4,8 billion in July 2020, according to its latest available monthly economic report. The central bank does not provide details of individual sources of the debt, although RBZ governor John Mangudya told Parliament in March 2019 that Zimbabwe had borrowed US$985 million from African lenders, including US$641 million from Afreximbank in 2018. While Afreximbank has emerged as a leading lender to Zimbabwe, Biti’s claim that the continental bank has lent “more than half of its balance sheet” to the country is false. The bank’s greatest exposure is to West Africa, which still accounts for less than half of Afreximbank’s loan book. AFREXIMBANKBITIFEATUREDRBZ	news-zimfact	2024-05-27T18:41:47.087066	October 11, 2020	{ "license": "Creative Commons - Attribution - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/", "url": "https://zimfact.org/does-zimbabwe-get-more-than-half-afreximbank-loans/", "author": "Ngoni Mhuruyengwe" }
119	Does Zimbabwe have the 13th highest suicide rate in the world? - ZimFact Ngoni Mhuruyengwe May 12, 2021 CLAIM: Zimbabwe has the 13th highest suicide rate in the world. Source: The Chronicle newspaper VERDICT: Incorrect. While Zimbabwe’s suicide rate is indeed among the highest in the world, the country has been ranked 34th in terms of the suicide rate, according to the latest available World Health Organisation data for 2018 and 2019. In an April 30, 2021 report on a suspected suicide by a 12 year old Bulawayo schoolboy, the Chronicle stated that “Zimbabwe has the 13th highest suicide rate in the world.” The statistic appears to be based on unofficial sources such as Wikipedia and www.worldlifeexpectancy.com, both which cite the World Health Organisation (WHO) as their primary source. WHO data The World Health Organisation notes that the quality and availability of data on suicide rates is generally poor globallynot Globally, the availability and quality of data on suicide and suicide attempts is poor. This is largely due to the sensitivity of suicide, which is legally and culturally frowned upon in many countries. This often results in under-reporting and misclassification. The global health body estimates that about 800,000 people commit suicide every year. The latest available WHO data on suicide, for 2019, shows Zimbabwe has a crude suicide rate of 14,1 deaths per 100,000 population. This places Zimbabwe in 34th place on a list of 182 countries, the same position the country held in 2018. However, the data used by both Wikipedia and www.worldlifeexpectancy.com is adjusted for age for 2016 and 2018, respectively, shows Zimbabwe with the 13th highest suicide rate. Both these sources claim to use WHO statistics, although their figures vary significantly with the age-adjusted primary numbers on the WHO website. In age-adjusted terms, Zimbabwe’s suicide rate is much higher than in crude terms. On the 2019 list, the country is ranked 7th globally, with 23,6 suicide deaths per 100,000 population. For the years cited by Wikipedia (2016) and www.worldlifeexpectancy.com (2018), the WHO ranks Zimbabwe 5th and 8th, respectively, in age-adjusted terms. CONCLUSION: Zimbabwe does indeed have one of the highest suicide rates in the world. While two unofficial sources appear to show that the country has the 13th highest suicide rate in the world, the latest available data from the World Health Organisation shows otherwise. Using the latest crude data, Zimbabwe has the 34th highest suicide rate in the worldand the fifth in Africa, behind Lesotho, ESwatini, South Africa and Botswana. In age-adjusted terms, Zimbabwe is in the top 10 of the highest suicide rates in the world, according to 2019 data. FEATURED	news-zimfact	2024-05-27T18:41:47.087066	May 12, 2021	{ "license": "Creative Commons - Attribution - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/", "url": "https://zimfact.org/does-zimbabwe-have-the-13th-highest-suicide-rate-in-the-world/", "author": "Ngoni Mhuruyengwe" }
120	Does Zimbabwe have the most expensive bread? It's complicated - ZimFact Ngoni Mhuruyengwe April 22, 2022 On Tuesday, April 21st, Zimbabweans woke up to the news that the price of a loaf of bread had risen to above US$2. NewsDay reported on April 21 that this means that Zimbabwe now has the world’s most expensive bread. The paper reported: “A standard loaf of bread now costs more than US$2 after its price shot up by 30% to $345. With the official exchange rate at US$1:$150, it means Zimbabwe’s load of bread is now the world’s most expensive dough.” Is this true? The answer lies in Zimbabwe’s distorted exchange rate system. After the most recent price hikes, the most expensive loaf of bread at Lobels bakery is Z$362.41. At the official exchange rate, the bread would cost US$2.30. That would indeed place it among the most expensive in the world. However, using a parallel market premium rate of ZWL360:USD1 quoted by Zimpricecheck, a website that tracks the unofficial market rates widely used in the economy, the price for the same loaf would be around US$1. The website africa.businessinsider.com has published a ranking of bread prices in nine countries across Africa. It found that Nigerian bread costs US$1.12 a loaf, while average prices in South Africa are the equivalent of US$0.98 a loaf. Here is the list showing bread prices in Africa. Zimbabwe’s currency crisis makes price comparisons complicated. In 2019, after fuel prices rose to Z$3.31 per litre, Bloomberg reported: “Zimbabwe now has the world’s highest petrol price”. At the time, Zimbabwe’s official exchange rate was still 1:1 to the US dollar. In reality, however, the Zimbabwe dollar was artificially strong on the official rate. It was much lower on the black market, distorting any price comparisons. Zimbabwean businesses have called on authorities to enact a currency system that reflects the exchange rate more accurately than the foreign currency auction. FEATURED	news-zimfact	2024-05-27T18:41:47.087066	April 22, 2022	{ "license": "Creative Commons - Attribution - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/", "url": "https://zimfact.org/does-zimbabwe-have-the-most-expensive-bread-its-complicated/", "author": "Ngoni Mhuruyengwe" }
121	Does Zimbabwe have the world's worst COVID-19 testing rate? - ZimFact Ngoni Mhuruyengwe November 25, 2020 MDC Alliance co-vice president Tendai Biti presenting his party’s state of the economy report on Tuesday, 24 November 2020 CLAIM: Zimbabwe had the least number of COVID-19 tests, per capita, in the world. Source: MDC Alliance co-vice president Tendai Biti during his “state of the economy” address. RATING: INCORRECT. Zimbabwe’s COVID-19 testing rate, while lower than many reporting countries, is not the worst in the world and bettered two of the three countries cited in the claim by MDC Alliance vice president and former Finance Minister Tendai Biti. Biti made the claim while presenting his party’s economic policy statement on November 24, basing his assertion on data up to the end of April. Biti: Zimbabwe has carried out the least number of Covid19 tests in the world per capita (@OpenParlyZw) pic.twitter.com/HhJH2SPSAB “By the end of April, less than 9,000 COVID tests had been carried out in Zimbabwe and if you compare, in percentage terms, we are the country, across the globe, including Malawi and Mozambique, including Swaziland (Eswatini), that had carried out, in per capita terms, the least number of test on the entirety of the globe,” Biti said. Testing data Official data from Zimbabwe’s health ministry shows that, by April 30, the country had conducted 8,314 COVID-19 tests. However, this figure combined the definitive PCR tests as well as the less trusted rapid diagnostic tests. The last available data for PCR tests before April 30, was for April 27, when some 2,466 PCR COVID-19 tests had been done. At the close of the period under consideration, Malawi (population 18.1 million) had recorded 831 COVID-19 tests, according to its health ministry. As of April 30, Mozambique (population 29.5 million) had reported 2076 COVID-19 tests, according to government data. Eswatini (population 1.1 million) had run 1051 COVID-19 tests by April 22, according to a Prime Ministerial statement of the same date. Eswatini reported a further 890 tests between the prime minister’s April 22 statement and the end of that month, giving a total of 1941 tests. Comparisons While it is unclear whether the countries cited by Biti were reporting exclusively PCR tests, Zimbabwe’s testing rate of 176 PCR tests per million population (at the time in question) remained better than Malawi’s 46 tests per million population and Mozambique’s 70 tests per million population. Of the countries cited by Biti, only Eswatini had a superior testing rate to Zimbabwe’s, 1,765 tests per million of its inhabitants, at the end of April. This trend is also confirmed by Worldometer, a data aggregation site which draws statistics from official sources. Worldometer’s coronavirus update for May 1 shows Zimbabwe had a better testing rate than 30 countries at the end of April. Current situation As of November 23, Zimbabwe had registered 161,032 PCR tests (11,502 tests per 1 million inhabitants), compared to Malawi’s 72,281 cumulative tests (3,993 tests per a million inhabitants) reported on November 25. Mozambique had 224,854 tests by November 24, or 7495 tests per 1 million population. CONCLUSION: Biti’s assertion that Zimbabwe has the worst coronavirus testing rate in the world was not true in April, nor is true now. Available official data from several sources, including the countries he cited as examples, shows that while Zimbabwe’s testing was lower than most countries, it wasn’t the worst in the world, as claimed by Biti. FEATURED	news-zimfact	2024-05-27T18:41:47.087066	November 25, 2020	{ "license": "Creative Commons - Attribution - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/", "url": "https://zimfact.org/does-zimbabwe-have-the-worlds-worst-covid-19-testing-rate/", "author": "Ngoni Mhuruyengwe" }
122	Does Zimbabwe lose about 5 people daily on the roads? Yes - ZimFact Ngoni Mhuruyengwe November 6, 2018 The World Health Organisation says ‘over 1.2 million people die each year on the world’s roads and between 20 and 50 million suffer non-fatal injuries’. Of these, how many die on Zimbabwe’s roads? Are the statistics one gets from Zimbabwe National Statistics Agency reliable? ZimFact did a fact check following a claim from The Chronicle in a story by Esinathy Sibanda, Motorists urged to be vigilant during rainy season. About 20 Zimbabweans reportedly died in a road traffic accident involving this bus in a 2015 accident along the Harare-Nyamapanda highway (Photo credit: VOA/Arthur Chigoriwa) : In Zimbabwe about five people are killed on our roads everyday, while approximately 38 persons are injured. : Partly correct. This would translate to about 1 825 deaths annually due to road traffic accidents and 13 870 injuries. While the story quotes the Traffic Safety Council of Zimbabwe, the statistic is not directly attributed to the TSCZ or any other organisation. The World Health Organisation defines a road traffic fatality as ‘any person killed immediately or dying within 30 days as a result of a road traffic injury accident’. However, only 80 countries, globally, use the 30-day definition with others using on scene, 24 hours, 7 days or within a year as indicators. WHO says Zimbabwe uses the 24 hour indicator. Police and onlookers at the scene of a crash along the Plumtree-Bulawayo highway in 2014 (Photo credit: The Chronicle) According to the ZimStat Quarterly Digest of Statistics Second Quarter 2018, 1 793 people died on Zimbabwe’s roads in 2017 and 8 213 were injured. ZimStat attributes these statistics to the Zimbabwe Republic Police. Source: ZimStat The data from the World Health Organisation only has statistics from 2015. According to its data published in July 2017, Zimbabwe reported 1 787 road traffic deaths for 2015. This was adjusted by WHO to 3 985 deaths. While the first figure was, according to WHO, obtained directly from the country, the second is data modelled on WHO’s assessment and adjustment of data from countries with an unreliable civil registration system. According to WHO, the leading risk factors for road accidents in descending order are speeding; driving while intoxicated or under the influence of psycho-active substances; non-compliance or absence of safety provisions; distracted driving due to the use of mobile phones; dangerous road infrastructure and failure to comply with traffic regulations. In Zimbabwe, 63% of fatalities are passengers in motorised vehicles, followed by 26% being pedestrians. The prediction is that road traffic injuries will rise to become the fifth leading cause of death by 2030, globally. The current statistics available for Zimbabwe on road fatalities and injuries are from ZimStat (attributed to the police). The data from other sources such as the World Health Organisation is not current. From the data available, the conclusion is that the claim is partly correct: as of 2017, about five people died on Zimbabwean roads daily. However, the claim on the injuries that 38 people are injured daily is incorrect. The data from Zimstat shows that injuries have been on a steady decline since 2014 with an average of 40 daily in 2014 to a current average of 22 and not 38 as reported by The Chronicle. FEATUREDOUR PICKS	news-zimfact	2024-05-27T18:41:47.087066	November 6, 2018	{ "license": "Creative Commons - Attribution - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/", "url": "https://zimfact.org/does-zimbabwe-lose-about-5-people-daily-on-the-roads-yes/", "author": "Ngoni Mhuruyengwe" }
123	Does Zimbabwe's local motor industry have capacity to meet vehicle demand as claimed by Mthuli Ncube? - ZimFact Ngoni Mhuruyengwe November 27, 2020 Some vehicles on display during Willowvale Motor Industry’s reopening in March 2017. Photo: Innocent Makawa/Zimpapers CLAIM: Zimbabwe’s motor industry has the capacity to assemble vehicles currently being imported by motorists. RATING: INCORRECT. Zimbabwe’s motor industry has been in decline and currently lacks the capacity, in volume terms, to produce the tens of thousands of vehicles purchased by Zimbabweans annually from abroad. Presenting Zimbabwe’s national budget for 2021 on Thursday, Finance Minister Mthuli Ncube suggested the local motor industry has the capacity to meet demand which was currently being served by imports of mostly second hand cars. “About US$1.3 billion was spent on imported buses, light commercial and passenger motor vehicles from 2015 to September 2020. This is despite the existence of capacity by the local motor industry to assemble the above-mentioned range of motor vehicles,” Ncube said. State of Zimbabwe’s motor industry Zimbabwe has four vehicle assemblies, according to the Ministry of Industry and Commerce’s motor industry development policy. These are passenger vehicle assemblers Willowvale Motor Industries and Quest Motors, and two bus assemblers, Deven Engineering and AVM Africa. Quest has also recently started assembling buses. However, all the local firms’ capacity has been constrained by lack of investment. The domestic market is also dominated by purchasers who cannot buy expensive new cars and opt for cheaper, used cars. Willowvale Motor Industries was forced to shut down in 2012 and only reopened in 2017 under a partnership with China’s Beijing Automobile International Corporation (Baic), was reported to run at a production rate of 1,000 cars per year between 2018 and 2020. Quest Motors, on the other hand, has installed capacity to produce between 12,000 and 15,000 annually. However, the company is currently operating at 5% of its capacity, suggesting output between 600 and 750 cars annually. In 2017, AVM Africa reported it was operating at less than 15% of its capacity. The truck and bus assembly industry currently employs just 50 people, according to the government’s recently launched National Development Strategy document. The market Zimbabwe’s domestic new vehicle market collapsed from a peak of 20 000 unit sales per year in 1997 to less than 3 500 units in 2016, according to the motor industry development policy document published in 2017, the latest available source of official industry data. Over that time, second hand vehicle imports have risen sharply. Second hand car imports jumped 346% from 17023 in 2007 to a high of 75862 in 2014, before easing to 62619 in 2016. Zimstat data shows that Zimbabwe imports vehicles worth US$348,5 million annually, while Central Vehicle Registry data shows an average of 55,685 vehicle imports annually between 2007 and 2016. This suggests the market spends an average US$6258 per vehicle, way below the US$20,000 price for a basic locally assembled vehicle. CONCLUSION: Zimbabwe’s motor industry currently has no capacity to meet the demand for vehicles by locals who have to resort to imports. This is mainly because local assemblies have suffered from years on under investment. Even if the local industry were to increase production capacity, inherent inefficiencies and other factors would still place the prices of their vehicles above what a significant segment of the market, which relies on used vehicles, can pay. FEATURED	news-zimfact	2024-05-27T18:41:47.087066	November 27, 2020	{ "license": "Creative Commons - Attribution - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/", "url": "https://zimfact.org/does-zimbabwes-local-motor-industry-have-capacity-to-meet-vehicle-demand-as-claimed-by-mthuli-ncube/", "author": "Ngoni Mhuruyengwe" }
124	Fact Check: Are half of UZ students HIV positive? - ZimFact Ngoni Mhuruyengwe July 14, 2023 Claim: Almost half of students at the University of Zimbabwe test positive for HIV Source: Pachopisa TV (Social Media Platform) Verdict: Both False and misleading On 10 July 2023, a post by PachopisaTV went viral on Instagram claiming that 47 percent of students at the University of Zimbabwe (UZ) had tested positive for HIV. The claim was attributed to a report published by the Chronicle following voluntary HIV testing which occurred at the UZ. An investigation by Zimfact has shown that the above claim which is presented as “breaking’ news by PachopisaTV is not current but from a report published by the Chronicle in 2016. According to the National Aids Council (NAC), the statistics in the report have been resurfacing since the original report was published. The claim posted by the platform is not current and the quoted survey does not indicate the number of students who volunteered for the HIV testing to say with conviction that the statistics were accurate. National AIDS Council The Chronicle PachopisaTV FEATUREDTRENDING	news-zimfact	2024-05-27T18:41:47.087066	July 14, 2023	{ "license": "Creative Commons - Attribution - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/", "url": "https://zimfact.org/fact-check-are-half-of-uz-students-hiv-positive/", "author": "Ngoni Mhuruyengwe" }
125	FACT CHECK: Are power cuts now 'a thing of the past' in Zambia? - ZimFact Ngoni Mhuruyengwe July 1, 2019 CLAIM: Power cuts are now a thing of the past in Zambia VERDICT: Not true EXPLAINER: The claim lacks context By ZimFact Staff Basis of claim On June 29, 2019, the African Development Bank Group (AfDB) tweeted that power cuts in Zambia were now a thing of the past. Power cuts are now a thing of the past in #Zambia🇿🇲! A major boost in electricity production – thanks to a robust hydraulic and solar power industry – means the country is now self-sufficient in energy. 💡 Read more 👉🏿 https://t.co/8xUjpP84de pic.twitter.com/KSAfQIorwJ The tweet linked to an article, first published on February 5, 2019, on the AfDB website. While the article was published in February, the report gained new currency with the June 29 repost. With rolling power cuts in Zimbabwe, the article’s claim that Zambia no longer suffers load-shedding drew comparisons with the power crisis in Zimbabwe. The AfDB article is part of a series of articles on the website promoting the bank’s projects in Africa, particularly its “Light up and power Africa” energy initiative. The article, headlined “Zambia on track to energy surplus following major boost in electricity production”, states: “Zambia’s constant power cuts are now a thing of the past. Thanks to a robust hydraulic (sic) and solar power generation industry in recent years, the country is now self-sufficient in energy. And, there is even better news for citizens of the South African nation – electricity production could soon be in surplus. Zambia generates practically all its energy production from its own primary resources: biomass, coal and hydroelectricity, with flagship plants such as the power station near the Itezhi-Tezhi Dam, in the south-east of the country, taking centre stage.” Zambia’s installed generation capacity (Zambia Ministry of Energy, 2018) The 120MW Itezhi-Tezhi hydroelectric power station, which came on stream in 2016, is a $375 million project partly funded by AfDB. The bank contributed $55 million to the Itezhi-Tezhi plant. According to AfDB, Itezhi-Tezhi plant increased Zambia’s power generation capacity by 7.5%. In the first quarter of 2018, Zambia stopped importing electricity. Zambia has increased its power supply through new hydropower stations at the Musonda, Lusawaki and Kafue Gorge, the AfDB says. In September 2018, the Zambia government inaugurated a 50 MW power plant at a cost of $60 million. Zambia also plans a series of mini solar plants with an eventual overall capacity of 600 MW at a total cost of $1.2 billion. Are power cuts in Zambia over? Despite recent energy investments that have improved supply, Zambia’s power plant at Kariba Dam, which is shared with Zimbabwe, remains Zambia’s main supplier of electricity. In February 2019, Zambia and Zimbabwe reduced power generation to around half capacity at Kariba Dam as water levels in the reservoir fell. Power generation on both the Zambian and Zimbabwean sides was restricted to 500MW each from total capacities of around 1,000 MW. A further cut in power generation were announced on March 21, 2019. On May 17, 2019, Zambia’s power utility, Zesco, announced that it would start load shedding due to low water levels at Kariba. “In view of the power deficit, Zesco Ltd. intends to commence load management to restrict supply,” the company said in a notice. Zesco subsequently released a load shedding schedule showing power cuts of up to four hours per day. Zambia had a daily power deficit of 273MW in June, according to an article quoting Henry Kapata, spokesman for Zesco. “If generation is maintained at the current level, Kariba dam will drain to minimum operating level by November,” Kapata was quoted as saying. Zambia’s electrification rate remains low with only about 31.2% of the population connected to the grid, according to a December 2018 report by the country’s Ministry of Energy (Zimbabwe is 40.1%: World Bank, 2017 CONCLUSION While Zambia’s power cuts have not reached the severity of the load-shedding in Zimbabwe, it would be misleading to read the article’s claim as referring to the current situation in Zambia. Zambia does currently suffer power cuts. FEATUREDOUR PICKSPOWERCUTSZESAZESCO	news-zimfact	2024-05-27T18:41:47.087066	July 1, 2019	{ "license": "Creative Commons - Attribution - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/", "url": "https://zimfact.org/fact-check-are-power-cuts-are-now-a-thing-of-the-past-in-zambia/", "author": "Ngoni Mhuruyengwe" }
126	Fact Check: Are ZBC radio licences already mandatory for motorists? - ZimFact Ngoni Mhuruyengwe May 5, 2024 Claim: A local newspaper reported that Zimbabwe’government had announced that “it is now mandatory for motorists to first purchase a radio licence before acquiring vehicle insurance cover or policy unless there is an exemption from the Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation (ZBC)”. Is this true or false? Verdict: Misleading, because there is no legislation yet for that. The report which cites statements made by the Minister of Information Publicity and Broadcasting Services, Jenfan Muswere in a Post-Cabinet briefing is misleading as the Minister’s statements are not yet law, but proposed amendments to the Broadcasting Services Act by Cabinet. The Minister said: “The additional amendments will, among other provisions, provide for the following … broadening and introducing new definitions under Section 38A; and prohibition of the sale of motor vehicle registration licence or motor vehicle insurance cover or policy to a person without a current radio licence or an exemption from ZBC under Section 38B,” This therefore means the proposals have to go through the law-making process, where they may or may not be approved by legislators. What is the current reading of section on broadcasting licenses that government intends to expand? Section 38A of the broadcasting Services Act defines the key actors and in the issuance of licenses while 38B outlines the terms of the licensing of listeners as indicated below: (1) No listener shall have in his possession in Zimbabwe a receiver otherwise than in accordance with the terms and conditions of a licence issued by the Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation or by agents of the Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation. (2) The fees payable on the issue of licences referred to in subsection (1) shall be fixed by the Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation with the approval of the Minister by statutory instrument and the Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation may fix different fees for different prescribed classes of listeners: Provided that the Minister may, after consultation with the Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation, exempt any class of listeners from payment of all or any of the fees referred to in this subsection. (3) Subsection (3) shall not apply to a listener¾ (a) who is a bona fide tourist residing outside Zimbabwe and who has brought a receiver temporarily into Zimbabwe for a period not exceeding three months; or (b) whose receiver is capable of use solely in connection with a diffusion service. Broadcasting Services Act FEATURED	news-zimfact	2024-05-27T18:41:47.087066	May 5, 2024	{ "license": "Creative Commons - Attribution - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/", "url": "https://zimfact.org/fact-check-are-zbc-radio-licences-already-mandatory-for-motorists/", "author": "Ngoni Mhuruyengwe" }
127	Fact Check: Can convicted criminals run for elections? - ZimFact Ngoni Mhuruyengwe April 13, 2023 Claim: If a person is convicted in a court of law, they cannot run for public office, according to social media posts that followed the imposition of a fine on Citizen Coalition for Change (CCC) spokesperson Fadzai Mahere over charges of disseminating false information — a charge and sentence which the opposition official is appealing against as legally invalid. True or False? False. Zimbabwean laws do not explicitly prohibit a convicted person from running for public office, according to provisions of the national constitution. There is also no such prohibition in the Zimbabwe Electoral Act. The Zimbabwe Constitution, which is the supreme law of the land, simply states that every citizen has the right to run for public office. It does not offer any preconditions or limitations. Section 67(3)(a) of the 2013 Constitution states that every Zimbabwean citizen who is of, or over eighteen years of age has the right to stand for election for public office and, if elected, to hold such office. The Zimbabwe Electoral Act, in Section 45D spells out grounds under which a party list candidate can be disqualified by ZEC. The following are the conditions; 45D Disqualifications for nomination as party-list candidate (1) Subject to subsection (2), a person shall not be qualified for nomination as a party-list candidate for an electoral province in terms of section 45C if he or she— (a) is not registered on a voters roll in a ward belonging to a constituency in the electoral province; or (b) is nominated, and has accepted to be nominated, as a party-list candidate by more than one political party; or (c) in the case of a party-list candidate for election as a Senator, is also nominated as a party-list candidate for election to the National Assembly or the provincial council, or as a candidate for election as a constituency member of the National Assembly, or as a councillor; or (d) in the case of a party-list candidate for election as a member of the National Assembly, is also nominated as a party-list candidate for election as a Senator or the provincial council, or as a candidate for election as a constituency member of the National Assembly, or as a councillor; or (e) in the case of a party-list candidate for election as a member of the provincial council, is also nominated as a party-list candidate for election as a Senator or the National Assembly, or as a candidate for election as a constituency member of the National Assembly, or as a councillor. (2) Where a person is nominated more than once contrary to subsection (1)(b), (c), (d) or (e), all the nominations of the person as a party-list candidate shall be void. Verdict: The law being applied to administer elections in Zimbabwe is clear that every citizen has the right to run for public office. Except for a special clause governing the nomination of local authority candidates. There is an exception with local authority posts where one cannot run for office after being convicted of a crime of dishonesty. This is according to Section 119(2) ( e) which states that a person shall be disqualified from being nominated as a candidate for or from election as a councillor if he or she has been convicted of crimes of dishonesty. There is however a proposal to bar people who have been convicted of crimes from running but this has not yet been passed into law Sources: Zimbabwe National Constitution https://www.veritaszim.net/node/6018 https://www.zec.org.zw/ ELECTIONSFEATURED	news-zimfact	2024-05-27T18:41:47.087066	April 13, 2023	{ "license": "Creative Commons - Attribution - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/", "url": "https://zimfact.org/fact-check-can-convicted-criminals-run-for-elections/", "author": "Ngoni Mhuruyengwe" }
128	Can Parliament convene over Zimbabwe Delimitation Report? Ngoni Mhuruyengwe December 27, 2022 Claim: President Emmerson Mnangagwa broke his annual vacation, just days into the holiday for an official ceremony to receive a Preliminary Delimitation Report from the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC), but Parliament as a separate arm of the State is not obliged to convene urgently to consider the Report, according to interpretations on some social media platforms. Is this True of False? False. Under Section 110 of the current Constitution, the President’s powers include those to summon, adjourn and dissolve Parliament, and the power to appoint a limited number of members of Parliament. Therefore Zimbabwe’s Executive Presidential system allows the President to order Parliament into conducting “extraordinary” sittings to consider Special business matters — outside the schedules set by Parliament. So although Parliament adjourned Sitting in mid December to January 24, 2023, it will be called to meet earlier to debate the Preliminary Delimitation Report, with new proposals of boundaries of parliamentary constituencies and local government wards for general elections due by August 2023. After receiving the Delimitation Report, the law requires the President to cause the tabling of the Report to Parliament within seven working days, after which Parliament has 14 sitting days during which to study the Report before submitting its opinion to the President The President can refer and recommend further items to ZEC for consideration before the final adoption of the Delimitation Report Delimitation is the process of dividing the country into constituencies and wards for the purposes of elections of persons to constituency seats in the National Assembly and of councillors to local authorities. The process is carried out in terms of sections 160 and 161 of the new Constitution (a) the boundaries of wards, the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission must ensure that noward is divided between two or more local authority areas; (b) the boundaries of constituencies, the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission must ensurethat no ward is divided between two or more constituencies (a) its physical features; (b) the means of communication within the area; (c) the geographical distribution of registered voters; (d) any community of interest as between registered voters; (e) in the case of any delimitation after the first delimitation, existing electoral boundaries; and (f) its population; (a) a list of the wards and constituencies, with the names assigned to each and adescription of their boundaries; (b) a map or maps showing the wards and constituencies; and (c) any further information or particulars which the Commission considers necessary; and the President must cause the preliminary delimitation report to be laid before Parliamentwithin seven days. (a) the President may refer the report back to the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission forfurther consideration of any matter or issue; (b) either House may resolve that the report should be referred back to the ZimbabweElectoral Commission for further consideration of any matter or issue, and in thatevent the President must refer the report back to the Commission for that furtherconsideration. Sources: Zimbabwe Constitution, Section 160 and 161, Zimbabwe Constitution, Section 110, Zimbabwe Government Press Statement, by George Charamba, Acting Chief Secretary to the President and Cabinet, Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC), www.zec.org.zw Veritas – https://www.veritaszim.net/ FEATUREDTRENDING	news-zimfact	2024-05-27T18:41:47.087066	December 27, 2022	{ "license": "Creative Commons - Attribution - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/", "url": "https://zimfact.org/fact-check-can-parliament-convene-urgently-over-zimbabwe-delimitation-report/", "author": "Ngoni Mhuruyengwe" }
129	Fact Check: Can polling times be extended? - ZimFact Ngoni Mhuruyengwe August 23, 2023 Claim: There have been widespread reports that polling stations in parts of Harare and Bulawayo failed to open at 0700hrs. The Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) reported that 77% and 25% of polling stations in Harare and Bulawayo respectively failed to open on time. What does the law say about delays in the opening of polling stations? If there are delays in opening, Section 53 (1) of the Electoral Act states that, provided that if for good cause the constituency elections officer determines that it is not possible to open a polling station at 7.00 a.m., he or she shall fix such later opening time as will enable him or her to keep the polling station open for at least twelve hours continuously on a polling day. Sources Zimbabwe Electoral Commission The Electoral Act Related Content https://zimfact.org/factsheet-what-you-cannot-do-at-a-polling-station/ https://zimfact.org/fact-check-did-nelson-chamisa-call-on-the-electorate-not-to-vote/ https://zimfact.org/fact-check-false-recording-of-mnangagwa-conceding-defeat-to-chamisa/ FEATURED	news-zimfact	2024-05-27T18:41:47.087066	August 23, 2023	{ "license": "Creative Commons - Attribution - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/", "url": "https://zimfact.org/fact-check-can-polling-times-be-extended/", "author": "Ngoni Mhuruyengwe" }
130	Fact Check: Can they tell who you voted for? - ZimFact Ngoni Mhuruyengwe August 17, 2023 Claim: In a video clip which went viral on Zimbabwe social media platforms, ZANU PF parliamentary candidate for Zvishavane-Ngezi, Mecky Jaravaza, is shown telling a campaign rally that the ruling party can verify how people voted by tracking ballot paper serial numbers. In the 140-second video, Jaravaza claims in the local Shona language that his party had no means in the past elections of establishing individual voter choices. “In the past we did not have the means to know who you voted for but we now know. When you enter the ballot box you will be given different ballot papers, one may be blue paper or any other colour, and when you look at it, you will see that it has a number. “That number will be used to record your name, and our election agents have been trained in Harare to identify which serial numbers voted for CCC (opposition Citizens Coalition for Change). You therefore can no longer deceive us if you vote for (Nelson) Chamisa and come out claiming you voted for (President Emmerson) Mnangagwa,” Jaravaza claimed. Verdict: False The Electoral Act prescribes the duties, conduct and responsibilities of election officers which do not entail identifying the electorate’s vote of choice or ballot serial number as claimed by Jaravaza. Section 86 (1) of the Electoral Act states that: “Every electoral officer, monitor, candidate and chief election agent or election agent in attendance at a polling station shall maintain, and aid in maintaining, the secrecy of the voting at that station and shall not communicate, except for some purpose authorised by law, to any person any information likely to defeat the secrecy of the voting.” Election agents do not have access to the electorate’s ballot and are mandated by the Electoral Act’s section 86 (3) not to coerce voters from revealing their votes, which states: “No person shall, directly or indirectly, induce a voter to display his or her ballot paper after he or she has marked the same in such a manner as to make known to any person the name of the candidate for whom the voter has so marked his or her vote.” Section 86 (6) of the Electoral Act makes it a criminal offence for any election stakeholder including election agents to attempt to contravene previous provisions of this section and if found guilty of an offence are liable to a fine not exceeding level six or to imprisonment for a period not exceeding one year or to both such fine and such imprisonment. The claims are in breach of The Electoral Act’s provisions and his comments undermine a free and fair election process where the electorate are obligated to vote for candidates of their choice under a secret ballot. Zimbabwe Electoral Act FEATURED	news-zimfact	2024-05-27T18:41:47.087066	August 17, 2023	{ "license": "Creative Commons - Attribution - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/", "url": "https://zimfact.org/fact-check-can-they-tell-who-you-voted-for/", "author": "Ngoni Mhuruyengwe" }
131	Fact Check: Can you transfer Harare vehicle parking ticket to another bay? - ZimFact Ngoni Mhuruyengwe December 7, 2023 CLAIM: A public notice circulating on Zimbabwe social media platforms claiming to have emanated from Harare’s vehicle parking authority – City Parking – states that valid tickets are no longer transferrable from one bay to the other. Is this true or false? Verdict: False City Parking Private Limited has dismissed as old and invalid the public notice, saying it was issued in 2018 when the company introduced a bay sensor system. It has urged the public to ignore the notice as their tickets remain transferrable from one bay to the other. City Parking Statement on the notice FEATUREDTRENDING	news-zimfact	2024-05-27T18:41:47.087066	December 7, 2023	{ "license": "Creative Commons - Attribution - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/", "url": "https://zimfact.org/fact-check-can-you-transfer-harare-vehicle-parking-ticket-to-another-bay/", "author": "Ngoni Mhuruyengwe" }
132	FACT CHECK: Coronavirus in Zimbabwe? No, viral social media message is false - ZimFact Ngoni Mhuruyengwe February 15, 2020 CLAIM: 118 cases of coronavirus have been confirmed in Zimbabwe. VERDICT: False. No cases of coronavirus have been confirmed in the country A message that has gone viral on Zimbabwean social media claims Zimbabwe now has 118 confirmed coronavirus cases. Says the message: “Pandemonium, chaos and panic ensued in Harare northern suburbs yesterday as 118 Chinese nationals were confirmed to have the COVID-19 strain of the CoronaVirus which originated from the Xhuna region in Wuhan, China. Speaking at a press conference yesterday the interim Minister of Health, Dr. Obadiah Moyo, confirmed this to be the case.” The message is fake news. No cases of coronavirus have yetbeen detected in Zimbabwe. The Ministry of Health said on Saturday, February 15: “There are no cases of coronavirus and Zimbabwe is on high alert with the national preparedness and response system having been activated. The three major airports, R.G Mugabe, J.N Nkomo and Victoria Falls have all been assessed for their COVID-19 readiness, especially facilities for travellers screening, quarantine and isolation facilities. A number of ground ports have been assessed to ensure any possible cases will be detected early, diagnosed and refereed appropriately for treatment.” Speaking in Beitbridge on Friday, February 14, Moyo in fact said no cases had been detected in Zimbabwe. He has also urged Zimbabwean citizens not to travel to China until the outbreak is contained. At a press conference held on Friday, February 14, Chinese ambassadorto Zimbabwe, Guo Shaochun, said no Zimbabwean or Chinese nationals inZimbabwe had yet been infected. He said China is encouraging its nationals tostay in China. Guo said: “We have engaged Chinese business owners to allow their workers who had travelled to China for holiday to stay there until the situation improves. All unnecessary trips have been suspended. The number of trips between Zimbabwe and China have been kept at a minimum with no case being identified so far.” CONCLUSION The social message claiming confirmed cases of coronavirus in Zimbabwe is false. CORONAVIRUSCOVID-19FEATURED	news-zimfact	2024-05-27T18:41:47.087066	February 15, 2020	{ "license": "Creative Commons - Attribution - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/", "url": "https://zimfact.org/fact-check-coronavirus-in-zimbabwe-no-viral-social-media-message-is-false/", "author": "Ngoni Mhuruyengwe" }
133	Fact check: COVID-19 vaccination and blood donation - ZimFact Ngoni Mhuruyengwe February 24, 2021 CLAIM: The United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) guidelines advise a two week waiting period before people who get vaccines such as AstraZeneca, Johnson & Johnson and Sinopharm can donate blood. Source: Health Times, a Zimbabwean online health news service. VERDICT: INCORRECT. The FDA’s guidance says individuals who received a nonreplicating, inactivated, or mRNA-based COVID-19 vaccine can donate blood without a waiting period. Only recipients of live-attenuated viral COVID-19 vaccines require a two week waiting period before they can donate blood, according to the guidance. Citing FDA guidelines in an article on Zimbabwe’s diminished blood stocks, the Health Times reported that people inoculated against COVID-19 using AstraZeneca, Johnson & Johnson and Sinopharm vaccines could only donate blood two weeks after taking shots. “According to the Food and Drug and Drug Administration (FDA), individuals who get jabs from vaccines such as the AstraZeneca, Johnson & Johnson and the Sinopharm which are replication defective virus vaccines must wait two weeks before donating blood,” Health Times reported. “However, if someone got an inactivated or RNA based COVID-19 vaccine, like the ones manufactured by Moderna and Pfizer, there is no waiting period to donate blood. The Red Cross recommends that if a person does not know which type of COVID-19 vaccine they received they must wait four weeks before donating.” FDA guidance Guidance issued by the FDA on 19 January 2021 says “individuals who received a nonreplicating, inactivated, or mRNA-based COVID-19 vaccine can donate blood without a waiting period.” It adds that “individuals who received a live-attenuated viral COVID-19 vaccine, refrain from donating blood for a short waiting period (e.g., 14 days) after receipt of the vaccine.” The vaccines cited by Health Times – Sinopharm, AstraZeneca and Johnson & Johnson – all fall under the FDA’s category of non-replicating or inactivated vaccines. Sinopharm is an inactivated vaccine made from a virus killed off by radiation or chemicals, which has no capacity to replicate but has the ability to trigger an immune response. Both AstraZeneca and Johnson & Johnson are non-replicating viral vaccines based on a weakened common cold virus that readily infects human cells but is incapable of causing disease. The American Red Cross, which says it is following FDA blood donation eligibility guidelines for those who receive COVID-19 vaccines, says there is no waiting time for most individuals who received a COVID-19 vaccine as long as they are symptom free and feeling well at the time of donation. “There is no deferral time for eligible blood donors who are vaccinated with an inactivated or RNA based COVID-19 vaccine manufactured by AstraZeneca, Janssen/J&J, Moderna, Novavax, or Pfizer,” the American Red Cross says. “Eligible blood donors who received a live attenuated COVID-19 vaccine or do not know what type of COVID-19 vaccine they received must wait two weeks before giving blood.” CONCLUSION: The assertion that FDA guidelines recommend a waiting period of two weeks before people inoculated using AstraZeneca, Johnson & Johnson and Sinopharm vaccines can donate blood is untrue. FDA advice says only recipients of live attenuated vaccines, of which none is currently being administered, should wait for about two weeks before donating blood. FEATURED	news-zimfact	2024-05-27T18:41:47.087066	February 24, 2021	{ "license": "Creative Commons - Attribution - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/", "url": "https://zimfact.org/fact-check-covid-19-vaccination-and-blood-donation/", "author": "Ngoni Mhuruyengwe" }
134	Fact Check: Did Cholera patients get emergency treatment under a tree? - ZimFact Ngoni Mhuruyengwe January 16, 2024 Claim: A picture of several people receiving Cholera treatment under a tree in the Mapanza area of Chiredzi in southeastern Zimbabwe went viral on social media platforms, sparking a furious debate on whether it was fake, or a true picture of a rapid response team that was helping patients before emergency treatment tents had been set up. Verdict: True Global Context: In cases of emergency, health workers offer emergency treatment at any convenient space to save lives, alleviate pain and stabilise patients before moving them to ideal treatment centres. A public statement by Doctor Aspect Maunganidze, Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Health and Child Care, confirmed the Chiredzi story and picture was true: “Pictures of patients receiving Intravenous fluids (IV fluids) while lying on the ground at Mapanza, which had been posted on social media yesterday are true and they were taken as the rapid response teams were setting up Cholera treatment tents in Mapanza, Chiredzi”. In explaining what happens when rapid response teams are deployed to a medical emergency site, Maunganidze said they go prepared with IV fluids, antibiotics and other sundries and medicines. Only critical patients in need of the intensive care unit will then be moved into the hospitals. To date Zimbabwe has recorded 2,136 confirmed cases and 71 confirmed deaths. According to the latest situation report from the Ministry of Health and Child Care (14 January 2024) there have been 264 new suspected cholera cases. Chiredzi (45), Chipinge (33), Makonde (18), Zvimba (18), Chitungwiza City (15), Glenview (14), Mutare (13), Seke (11), Mberengwa (11), BRIDH (9), Bikita (9), Buhera (6), Bindura (6), Mazowe (5), Gutu (5), Centenary (5), Budiriro (5), Zvishavane (5), Chimanimani (4), Gokwe North (4), Chivi (4), Chikomba (3), Highfield (3), UMP (2), Rutsanana (2), Hwange (2), Mt Darwin (2), Hurungwe (1), Kariba (1), Mudzi (1), Sanyati (1) and Gwanda (1). Ministry of Health and Child Care FEATUREDTRENDING	news-zimfact	2024-05-27T18:41:47.087066	January 16, 2024	{ "license": "Creative Commons - Attribution - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/", "url": "https://zimfact.org/fact-check-did-cholera-patients-get-emergency-treatment-under-a-tree/", "author": "Ngoni Mhuruyengwe" }
135	Fact Check: Did former US President Trump register interest in Zimbabwe mining sector? - ZimFact Ngoni Mhuruyengwe April 15, 2024 Claim: A video clip circulating on social media shows former US President Donald Trump seemingly on the campaign trail, stating his interest in Zimbabwe’s mining sector particularly Lithium and Diamonds to catch up with the Chinese and Russians who have ‘taken up all the mines’. Below is a transcript of the short video. “We have pushed for removal of sanctions on Zimbabwe, we want to participate in their Lithium and diamonds, we cannot be left out. The Chinese and Russians have taken up all the mines. From our geological maps there are huge lithium deposits in places like Mberengwa Chivi and…” Is this true or false? Verdict: False The viral clip is an Artificial Intelligence (AI) generated video of former US President Donald trump was created with TryParrotAI.com an online tool which manipulates and generates visual and audio content that depicts people doing or saying things they never actually said or did. A google reverse image search has shown that the same parody video has been used multiple times on social media making fun of various situations. Google Images FEATURED	news-zimfact	2024-05-27T18:41:47.087066	April 15, 2024	{ "license": "Creative Commons - Attribution - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/", "url": "https://zimfact.org/fact-check-did-former-us-president-trump-register-interest-in-zimbabwe-mining-sector/", "author": "Ngoni Mhuruyengwe" }
136	Fact Check: Did Joe Biden sent a congratulatory message to Mnangagwa? - ZimFact Ngoni Mhuruyengwe September 12, 2023 Claim: A statement purportedly from US President Joe Biden congratulating President Zimbabwe Emmerson Mnangagwa on his re-election has been circulating in local social media platforms Is it a True or False official statement? Verdict: False The US Embassy in Harare dismissed the statement saying, “The letter in question is fake,” The USA leader, Joe Biden has not issued a statement congratulating President Emmerson Mnangagwa on his re-election. The statement purported to be from Joe Biden misinforms the public on the USA position on the Zimbabwe elections as it has not endorsed the conduct of the August 23 and 24 elections. FEATURED	news-zimfact	2024-05-27T18:41:47.087066	September 12, 2023	{ "license": "Creative Commons - Attribution - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/", "url": "https://zimfact.org/fact-check-did-joe-biden-sent-a-congratulatory-message-to-mnangagwa/", "author": "Ngoni Mhuruyengwe" }
137	Fact Check: Did Nelson Chamisa call on the electorate not to vote? - ZimFact Ngoni Mhuruyengwe August 23, 2023 Claim: Fliers with a message purportedly from Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC) leader Nelson Chamisa calling on people not to vote because the August 23 election ‘was stolen’ were thrown around some Harare townships, and circulated on Zimbabwe social media platforms. Source: WhatsApp Is this true: False According to the Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC) deputy national spokesperson, Mr. Gift Ostallos Siziba, the message in the flier is a false propaganda ploy. Whatsapp Citizens Coalition for Change FEATURED	news-zimfact	2024-05-27T18:41:47.087066	August 23, 2023	{ "license": "Creative Commons - Attribution - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/", "url": "https://zimfact.org/fact-check-did-nelson-chamisa-call-on-the-electorate-not-to-vote/", "author": "Ngoni Mhuruyengwe" }
138	Fact Check: Did Ramaphosa apologise for congratulating Mnangagwa? - ZimFact Ngoni Mhuruyengwe August 29, 2023 Claim: A social media post is circulating on local platforms allegedly from South African President Cyril Ramaphosa with an apology to Zimbabweans for congratulating President Emmerson Mnangagwa. “I would like to issue an apology to the people (of) Zimbabwe for our premature congratulation message. For now we stand with SADC’s preliminary report and Dr. Mumba,” read the post. Verdict: False South African leader Cyril Ramaphosa has not issued such a comment apologizing for issuing a congratulatory message to President Emmerson Mnangagwa on his re-election he posted on Monday evening. However, before Cyril Ramaphosa issued his congratulatory message, social media users on both X (formerly Twitter) and WhatsApp deliberately circulated his previous 2018 congratulatory message to Mnangagwa purporting it to be the current. South African leader Cyril Ramaphosa and several other African leaders that belong to the SADC bloc have individually issued congratulatory messages in their respective capacity as heads of state and government. Social Media FEATUREDTRENDING	news-zimfact	2024-05-27T18:41:47.087066	August 29, 2023	{ "license": "Creative Commons - Attribution - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/", "url": "https://zimfact.org/fact-check-did-ramaphosa-apologise-for-congratulating-mnangagwa/", "author": "Ngoni Mhuruyengwe" }
139	Fact Check: Did Sweden’s SIDA stop funding Zim NGOs in protest over PVO Bill? - ZimFact Ngoni Mhuruyengwe April 4, 2024 Claim: A Local newspaper reported that the Swedish International Development Agency (SIDA), the biggest external funder of legal projects in Zimbabwe, has withdrawn its financial assistance to the country in protest over a proposed legislation commonly known as the PVO Bill, stipulating stringent registration and operational requirements for civil society organisations. Is this true or false Verdict: False While it is true that SIDA has cancelled some of its funding commitments for some local projects, the agency refuted the above claim as “misleading” and “divergent from the truth,” saying this had nothing to do with the Private Voluntary Organisations (PVO) Amendment Bill. In a press release dated 30 March 2024, the Embassy of Sweden in Harare said its reasons for not renewing support to the Legal Resources Foundation (LRF) and other partner organisations “is not in any way related to the ongoing deliberations in the parliament on the new version of the PVO Bill as purported by the article.” It added that SIDA’s decision was “driven by strategic imperative to create space for the pursuit of new strategic areas particularly within (the) Economic Empowerment and Environment and Climate Change”. The statement said the embassy was currently discussing with a number of Zimbabwean government ministries regarding its new strategic development support focus. The Embassy of Sweden in Zimbabwe FEATUREDTRENDING	news-zimfact	2024-05-27T18:41:47.087066	April 4, 2024	{ "license": "Creative Commons - Attribution - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/", "url": "https://zimfact.org/fact-check-did-swedens-sida-stop-funding-zim-ngos-in-protest-over-pvo-bill/", "author": "Ngoni Mhuruyengwe" }
140	Fact Check: Did the King invite foreigners to fill out men shortage in Eswatini? - ZimFact Ngoni Mhuruyengwe March 17, 2024 Claim: An X (Twitter) post by @FonyokaPondoka, a South African social media influencer, contains a circular dated 8 March 2024 allegedly from the Government of Eswatini inviting men from Southern Africa to apply for citizenship due to a shortage of marriage partners for women in the Royal Kingdom. The message was also posted by Ali Naka, an active Zimbabwean social media commentator, on his X platform, buttressing the claim and receiving 59,000 views. The message attributed to the King reads in part: “1, King Mswati III, the King of Swaziland, invite citizens from Southern African Nations to apply for nationality in my land, therefore, here’s the deal, marry at least five wives and you’re assured that my government will pay for the marriage ceremonies and buy houses for you.” Is this true or false Verdict: False To verify this claim, this fact-checker (Chido Luciasi) ran a reverse image-search of the circular and discovered some red flags, which rendered it false. The icon of the lion and elephant in the logo is visually different from the official coat of arms of the Kingdom of Eswatini. While the coat of arms has a brown coloured lion and grey coloured elephant, the manipulated one had a peach-coloured lion with red mane and a red-coloured elephant. Additionally, the official coat of arms contains a white ribbon with the word ‘SIYINQABA’, the ribbon in the manipulated one is coloured yellow. The fake circular addressed the monarchy as Swaziland. The kingdom has since changed its name to Eswatini in 2018. The signature ascribed to King Mswati III actually belongs to Prof. Jacob T. Kaimenyi, a former Cabinet Secretary of the Kenyan Ministry of Education, Science and Technology. The government of the Kingdom of Eswatini put out a fake information alert dismissing the circular as false through their official X account on 10 March 2024. Evidence presented in this fact check shows that the claim alleging the kingdom of Eswatini invited interested applicants in Southern African Nations to apply for citizenship following a reported shortage of men is false as it is based on fabricated content. Author: Chido R. Luciasi Government of the Kingdom of Eswatini official X account The Government of Kenya, Ministry of Education, Science and Technology, Education and Training Sector Gender Policy Google Reverse Image search FEATUREDTRENDING	news-zimfact	2024-05-27T18:41:47.087066	March 17, 2024	{ "license": "Creative Commons - Attribution - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/", "url": "https://zimfact.org/fact-check-did-the-king-invite-foreigners-to-fill-out-men-shortage-in-eswatini/", "author": "Ngoni Mhuruyengwe" }
141	Ministry of Lands, not Defence, got the biggest allocation of Zimbabwe’s 2020 budget - ZimFact Ngoni Mhuruyengwe November 18, 2019 Claim: The Ministry of Defence got the biggest allocation of Zimbabwe’s 2020 budget. Verdict: Not true. The biggest budget vote went to the Ministry of Lands, Agriculture, Water, Climate and Rural Resettlement. Background: In an article, “ED sucks up to the soldiers”, published on Sunday, 17 November, 2019, the Zimbabwe edition of the Sunday Times reported that the Ministry of Defence got the largest allocation in the 2020 national budget, presented by Finance Minister Mthuli Ncube on Thursday, 14 November. The paper reported: “The ministry of defence and war veterans got $3.1bn, the single biggest allocation of the 2020 budget.” This is inaccurate. The 2020 budget statement shows that the Ministry of Lands, Agriculture, Water, Climate and Rural Resettlement got the single largest allocation, a vote of ZWL$11,163,481,000. The second largest vote went to Primary and Secondary Education, at ZWL$8,495,794,000, followed by Health and Child Care, at ZWL$6,459,100,000. Defence received ZWL$3,112,708,000. Figure Allocations in the 2020 national budget (Source: Treasury) According to the budget statement, the allocation for the Ministry of Lands, Agriculture, Water, Climate and Rural Resettlement includes spending of ZWL$5.2 billion for the purchase and importation of grain following the 2018/19 drought-hit farming season. The ZWL$11 billion agriculture spending also includes, among other lines, ZWL$1.8 billion for the construction of dams, ZWL$422.8 million for irrigation infrastructure, ZWL$281.5 million on agricultural extension services, ZWL$380 million toward interim compensation of white former farm owners and also the Presidential farm input scheme. Ahead of the presentation of the budget, images showing budget bids by various ministries had circulated on social media, following the pre-budget seminar held for Members of Parliament in Victoria Falls between October 30 and November 4, 2019. Budget bids presented at the pre-budget seminar, which were wrongly interpreted as budget allocations (Source: Treasury) These budget bids – in which ministries present how much they wish to be allocated by Treasury for the coming year – showed that Defence had the second highest bid of ZWL$25 billion (after Home Affairs’ ZWL$32 billion), while the bid for health was ZWL$18 billion. This was wrongly interpreted on social media as the confirmed budget allocations. Conclusion: The claim that the Ministry of Defence received the largest vote in the 2020 budget is not true. The biggest allocation went to the Ministry of Lands, Agriculture, Water, Climate and Rural Resettlement. FEATURED	news-zimfact	2024-05-27T18:41:47.087066	November 18, 2019	{ "license": "Creative Commons - Attribution - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/", "url": "https://zimfact.org/fact-check-did-the-ministry-of-defence-get-the-biggest-allocation-of-zimbabwes-2020-budget/", "author": "Ngoni Mhuruyengwe" }
142	Fact Check: Did Zanu PF’s Matabeleland South Chairperson call opposition ‘confused cockroaches’? - ZimFact Ngoni Mhuruyengwe July 7, 2023 Claim – Various media platforms reported that Environment, Climate Change, Tourism and Hospitality Minister Mangaliso Ndlovu referred to the Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC) as ‘confused cockroaches’ whilst at a ZANU PF rally. Verdict: True or False: True During Zanu PF’s rally in Matabeleland South on July 1, 2023 Mangaliso Ndlovu who is also Zanu PF legislator for Bulilima East made the statement whilst taunting the opposition Citizens’ Coalition for Change. In a live recording of the rally he is heard making the remarks in Ndebele which translate to; “Your Excellency, Matabeleland South province is well organised. We (Zanu PF) don’t have a single independent candidate. There are others who are confused. We wonder if they are a convention for confused cockroaches,” The statement attributed to Ndlovu by the media is true. The remarks contradict Section 160A paragraph 6 (c) of the Electoral Act’s Code of Conduct for political parties and candidates and other stakeholders which prohibits the use of hateful language which incites violence towards any individual or group, including in speeches, songs and slogans. Sources Centre for Innovation and Technology (CITE) Twitter Related Content FEATURED	news-zimfact	2024-05-27T18:41:47.087066	July 7, 2023	{ "license": "Creative Commons - Attribution - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/", "url": "https://zimfact.org/fact-check-did-zanu-pfs-matabeleland-south-chairperson-call-opposition-confused-cockroaches/", "author": "Ngoni Mhuruyengwe" }
143	Fact check: Do Zimbabweans still need passports for Botswana travel? - ZimFact Ngoni Mhuruyengwe December 1, 2023 Claim: Social media reports circulating mostly on WhatsApp platforms claim that Botswana President Mokgweetsi Masisi has removed passport requirements for Zimbabweans to travel to Botswana. The reports claim that Zimbabweans and Batswana now only need their National Identity Cards to cross borders between the two Southern African countries. Is this true or false? Verdict: False The claim is false. Publicly available information shows that President Masisi of Botswana is considering approaching Zimbabwe to discuss the removal of passport use between the two countries so that nationals of both countries use identification cards only to cross borders. Both the Zimbabwe and Botswana government have not officially published details concerning the issue of scrapping passports between Zimbabwe and Botswana. The much-circulated information saying that Botswana has scrapped passport requirements for Zimbabweans is misleading as this is still at proposal stage after President Masisi indicated his intention to engage President Mnangagwa over the issue. Currently, Namibia is the only country that has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Botswana to permit citizens of the two republics to use national identification cards to cross borders. Botswana government Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Trade Fair FEATUREDTRENDING	news-zimfact	2024-05-27T18:41:47.087066	December 1, 2023	{ "license": "Creative Commons - Attribution - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/", "url": "https://zimfact.org/fact-check-do-zimbabweans-still-need-passports-for-botswana-travel/", "author": "Ngoni Mhuruyengwe" }
144	Fact Check: Does an accident occur every 15 minutes on Zimbabwe’s roads? - ZimFact Ngoni Mhuruyengwe December 13, 2023 CLAIM: Media reports claim one road accident occurs every 15 minutes in Zimbabwe, with most accidents being attributed to reckless driving and use of substandard vehicles. Verdict: In 2023, this is a slight understatement The Traffic Safety Council of Zimbabwe (TSCZ) recorded 38,482 road accidents countrywide between January and September 2023. This translates to 141 road accidents per day and 5.89 per hour or one accident every ten minutes. TSCZ’s annual reports show that Zimbabwe had the highest road accident peak in 2018, when 58,738 incidents were recorded followed by, 51,107 in 2022 and 45,791 in 2021. Statistics from TSCZ show that 14,600 people died and 74,000 were injured in road accidents between 2015 and 2022. Current statistics show that 1,545 deaths and 7,294 injuries have been recorded in the first 9 months of 2023. Weekend nights and holidays (particularly the festive season) have been identified as the peak times for the occurrence of road accidents. Statistics from the Traffic Safety Council of Zimbabwe show that close to six accidents are recorded every hour countrywide. Traffic Safety Council of Zimbabwe United Nations Economic Commission for Africa and United Nations Economic Commission for Europe FEATURED	news-zimfact	2024-05-27T18:41:47.087066	December 13, 2023	{ "license": "Creative Commons - Attribution - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/", "url": "https://zimfact.org/fact-check-does-an-accident-occur-every-15-minutes-on-zimbabwes-roads/", "author": "Ngoni Mhuruyengwe" }
145	Fact Check - Fake list of new Zimbabwe Cabinet - ZimFact Ngoni Mhuruyengwe September 10, 2023 Zimbabwe’s President Emmerson Mnangagwa has not yet named his new Cabinet following his swearing-in on September 4. A government spokesperson said the list currently circulating in social media platforms is a fake. “The Cabinet will be publicly announced and sworn in this week,” he said. FEATURED	news-zimfact	2024-05-27T18:41:47.087066	September 10, 2023	{ "license": "Creative Commons - Attribution - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/", "url": "https://zimfact.org/fact-check-fake-list-of-new-zimbabwe-cabinet/", "author": "Ngoni Mhuruyengwe" }
146	Fact Check: Fake post on offer of financial grants for businesses - ZimFact Ngoni Mhuruyengwe March 5, 2024 Claim: A Facebook account operating as the Department of Small and Medium Enterprises Development-Zimbabwe posted a notice calling on entrepreneurs seeking financial support to apply for grants through its department. Is this true or false? Verdict: False The Ministry of Women Affairs, Community, Small and Medium Enterprises Development (MWACSMED) has dismissed the above claim as false, attributing it to criminal elements who were running a fake Facebook page. The ministry issued a statement on its social media platforms warning the public to be wary of being scammed. https://africacheck.org/fact-checks/guides/guide-how-verify-website-and-people-behind-it Ministry of Women Affairs, Community, Small and Medium Enterprises Development FEATURED	news-zimfact	2024-05-27T18:41:47.087066	March 5, 2024	{ "license": "Creative Commons - Attribution - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/", "url": "https://zimfact.org/fact-check-fake-post-on-offer-of-financial-grants-for-businesses/", "author": "Ngoni Mhuruyengwe" }
147	Fact Check: False recording of Mnangagwa conceding defeat to Chamisa - ZimFact Ngoni Mhuruyengwe August 23, 2023 Claim: A video of President Emmerson Mnangagwa conceding defeat to Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC) leader Nelson Chamisa was reissued on Zimbabwe social media platforms and WhatsApp groups overnight, ahead of voting on Wednesday. Source: WhatsApp groups and social media platforms Is this true: False According to ZANU-PF national spokesperson Chris Mutsvangwa the video was a crude propaganda message by the opposition CCC. Sources Whatsapp and social media platforms Related content FEATURED	news-zimfact	2024-05-27T18:41:47.087066	August 23, 2023	{ "license": "Creative Commons - Attribution - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/", "url": "https://zimfact.org/fact-check-false-recording-of-mnangagwa-conceding-defeat-to-chamisa/", "author": "Ngoni Mhuruyengwe" }
148	Fact Check – False statement on swimming lessons to beat flooded rivers - ZimFact Ngoni Mhuruyengwe October 27, 2023 Claim: A Twitter (X) post, purportedly from the national broadcaster, ZBC News Online, went viral on social media claiming the Zimbabwe government had called for swimming training for school going children to enable them to safely cross rivers during the rainy season. Source: Social media Verdict: False This claim is false, and has a number of red-flags undermining its credibility. Related Content FEATURED	news-zimfact	2024-05-27T18:41:47.087066	October 27, 2023	{ "license": "Creative Commons - Attribution - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/", "url": "https://zimfact.org/fact-check-false-statement-on-swimming-lessons-to-beat-flooded-rivers/", "author": "Ngoni Mhuruyengwe" }
149	Fact Check: Has Chamisa filed an election court challenge? - ZimFact Ngoni Mhuruyengwe September 1, 2023 Claim: A viral social media post claims that Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC) opposition leader Nelson Chamisa has filed a case with the Zimbabwe Constitutional Court challenging the re-election of President Emmerson Mnangagwa in a national vote on August 23 and 24. Is this true? Verdict: False – at least so far. By August 31, the CCC had not submitted any application with the court. Promise Mkwananzi, the CCC chief spokesperson, dismissed the widely circulated social media post, saying “its not factual”. But he also refused to discuss or preempt the course of action his party is taking to challenge Mnangagwa’s re-election, which the CCC has branded fraudulent. Images of piles of papers, alleged to be the official election results confirmation receipts called “V11s”, have been included in the social media posts claiming Chamisa had taken his complaints of vote rigging to the country’s highest court. Section 93 (1) of Zimbabwe’s Constitution allows aggrieved contestants to approach the court within seven days after the date of the declaration of the results of the election. The Constitutional Court is mandated by section 93 (3) to hear and determine a petition or application within fourteen days of the submission of the petition or application. The court’s decision is final. The dispute over the Zimbabwe election — which Mnangagwa and his ZANU-PF party claim they won fairly — has seen a sharp rise in political propaganda, misinformation and disinformation on social media platforms, and WhatsApp groups run or dominated by supporters of these two parties. FEATURED	news-zimfact	2024-05-27T18:41:47.087066	September 1, 2023	{ "license": "Creative Commons - Attribution - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/", "url": "https://zimfact.org/fact-check-has-chamisa-filed-an-election-court-challenge/", "author": "Ngoni Mhuruyengwe" }
150	Fact Check: Has Government Postponed Opening of Schools? - ZimFact Ngoni Mhuruyengwe August 30, 2023 Claim – A message on social media platforms purports that the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education has postponed the opening of schools to 12 September 2023 due to ‘the delay of the Zimbabwean Presidential election results’. Verdict – False Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education deputy director advocacy and communications Patrick Zumbo has dismissed the message as fake. “Schools are opening on the 4 of September and will close on 1 December as initially planned,” said Zumbo. The social media message is imposter content that has numerous red flags that indicate that it is fake. Red flags Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education Social media FEATURED	news-zimfact	2024-05-27T18:41:47.087066	August 30, 2023	{ "license": "Creative Commons - Attribution - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/", "url": "https://zimfact.org/fact-check-has-government-postponed-opening-of-schools/", "author": "Ngoni Mhuruyengwe" }
151	Fact Check: Has SADC published its final Zimbabwe elections report? - ZimFact Ngoni Mhuruyengwe September 12, 2023 Claim: A social media post by Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC) spokesperson Promise Mkwananzi alleged that Zimbabwe’s ZANU PF had been “dethroned by the SADC final report”, which he said was now available. Is it true, SADC has published its final Zimbabwe election report? Verdict: False SADC has not announced its position on the results of the August 23 and 24 elections, in which President Emmerson Mnangagwa was declared the winner by the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC). The SADC Electoral Observation Missions (SEOM) submitted their final report to the SADC Troika, the organ tasked with promoting peace and security in the region. Currently, President Hakainde Hichilema of Zambia is the Chairperson. Despite SEOM’s preliminary report seriously questioning the conduct August 23 plebiscite for failing to meet the SADC Principles and Guidelines Governing Democratic Elections, the full report has not been made public, and SADC as a bloc has not announced its position on Zimbabwe’s election outcome. As a member of the regional bloc, Zimbabwe has signed up to following the SADC Guidelines and Principles Governing Democratic Elections, but all members are equal sovereign entities and therefore the implementation of any recommendations or programmes requires the cooperation of their governments. Twitter FEATURED	news-zimfact	2024-05-27T18:41:47.087066	September 12, 2023	{ "license": "Creative Commons - Attribution - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/", "url": "https://zimfact.org/fact-check-has-sadc-published-its-final-zimbabwe-elections-report/", "author": "Ngoni Mhuruyengwe" }
152	Fact Check: Has South Africa extended Zimbabwe Exemption Permits (ZEP) to 2025? - ZimFact Ngoni Mhuruyengwe December 6, 2023 Claim: South African Home Affairs Minister, Aaron Motsoaledi has granted exemptions to about 178,000 Zimbabweans to stay in the country for a further two years to 2025 under the special permits, according to multiple media reports. ZEP was introduced in 2009 by then Home Affairs Minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma as a temporary measure to an influx of mostly economic refugees from neighbouring Zimbabwe. Source: Various main stream media Is this true or false? Verdict: True South Africa’s government announced the extension of Zimbabwe Exemption Permit (ZEP), some of which were due to expire at the end of the month and June next year in terms of section 31 (2) (b) of the Immigration Act 13 of 2002. The Home Affairs Minister said the ZEP permits would expire on November 29, 2025. Holders of exemption permits due to expire on 31 December 2023, or June 2024, and such extended period of validity will be entitled to apply for a new exemption permit. The claim is true, as announced in a press conference by South Africa’s Home Affairs Minister. The Zimbabwe Exemption Permits will be extended by a further two years until November 2025. There are an estimated 180,000 ZEP holders in South Africa. FEATURED	news-zimfact	2024-05-27T18:41:47.087066	December 6, 2023	{ "license": "Creative Commons - Attribution - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/", "url": "https://zimfact.org/fact-check-has-south-africa-extended-zimbabwe-exemption-permits-zep-to-2025/", "author": "Ngoni Mhuruyengwe" }
153	Fact Check: Has the UK barred overseas care workers from bringing dependants? - ZimFact Ngoni Mhuruyengwe December 15, 2023 Claim: The United Kingdom government plans to prevent overseas care staff from bringing family members with them to the UK when they are recruited for care work. Is this true or false? Verdict: True The British Home Secretary James Cleverly has announced a plan to slash migration levels and prevent ‘abuse’ of the immigration system. From March 2024, the UK government plans to increase the earning threshold for overseas workers to encourage businesses to look to British talent first and invest in their workforce, The government will also increase the minimum income required for British citizens and those settled in the UK who want their family members to join them. The move practically bars care workers earning below £38,700 annually from migrating with their dependants. www.gov.uk FEATUREDTRENDING	news-zimfact	2024-05-27T18:41:47.087066	December 15, 2023	{ "license": "Creative Commons - Attribution - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/", "url": "https://zimfact.org/fact-check-has-the-uk-barred-overseas-care-workers-from-bringing-dependants/", "author": "Ngoni Mhuruyengwe" }
154	Fact Check: Has the Zimbabwean government recalled batches of Benylin Paediatric Syrup - ZimFact Ngoni Mhuruyengwe April 23, 2024 Claim: Media reports claim batches (329303 and 329304) of Benylin Paediatric 100ml syrup manufactured by Johnson and Johnson, South Africa have been recalled from the market for containing unacceptably high levels of Diethylene Glycol, a contaminant which is toxic for humans when consumed. Is this true or false Verdict: True The Medicines Control Authority of Zimbabwe (MCAZ) released a statement dated 15 April 2024 to inform stakeholders of its recall of the two batches of Benylin Paediatric syrup following communication from Nigeria’s National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC). NAFDAC announced that it had conducted laboratory analysis which revealed, “unacceptably high levels of Diethylene glycol in this formulation”. MCAZ reported that, “Toxic effects can include abdominal pain, vomiting, diarrhoea, inability to pass urine, headache, altered mental state, and acute kidney injury, potentially leading to death”. In the statement, MCAZ says, while the Authority confirms that this product was registered in 2023 for use in Zimbabwe, its import database, “does not show a record of the importation of this product and more specifically these two batches”. The medicines regulator raised concern, “the aforementioned batches of Benylin Paediatric Syrup may find their way into the local market”. Medicines Control Authority of Zimbabwe National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control FEATUREDTRENDING	news-zimfact	2024-05-27T18:41:47.087066	April 23, 2024	{ "license": "Creative Commons - Attribution - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/", "url": "https://zimfact.org/fact-check-has-the-zimbabwean-government-recalled-batches-of-benylin-paediatric-syrup/", "author": "Ngoni Mhuruyengwe" }

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