A Family from Binga is looking for a Zaoga Church pastor who disappeared after allegedly impregnating their 19-year-old adopted daughter who is a Form Three pupil.

The pupil was adopted by the family in Manjolo, about 25km from Binga when she was eight-years-old following the death of her parents. She was in the custody of a family member, who is a teacher at a local school.

The teacher, who declined to be named, said Pastor Bruce Mushayavanhu (29) allegedly left Binga on the pretext that he was going to answer to his case before the church in Harare but never returned. She said Pastor Mushayavanhu, who was on probation, had however, acknowledged responsibility after being confronted by the family and reported to the church’s overseer in Binga. She said they have been trying to locate him for the past three months after he disappeared.

“My mother, who is late now, adopted the pupil when she was eight-years-old and she took her to school. My mother died in 2017 and I took over the responsibility of taking care of the girl, who is literally my sister.

“In January this year Pastor Mushayavanhu was deployed to Binga and he moved into our family house, which we’ve been renting out to Zaoga Church for years. In April I heard that my sister was pregnant,” said the teacher.

She said she confronted the pastor and he professed ignorance on the issue but when she interrogated her sister she confirmed that she was pregnant and the pastor was responsible. The teacher, who is a Roman Catholic, informed the local priest and they decided to go and report the case to the Zaoga overseer, who is also based in Binga and only identified as Overseer Ndlovu. “Overseer Ndlovu summoned him and asked him to explain what was going on. He accepted responsibility and promised to take care of my sister and the child.

“My priest suggested that we seek advice from legal experts and we approached a magistrate, who advised us that Mushayavanhu should write an affidavit and put his acknowledgements and promises on paper.

“He agreed and wrote the affidavit on 27 May. He even said he wanted my sister to continue with school and promised to pay her fees,” she said. She added that Pastor Mushayavanhu later took his clothes and property somewhere else before leaving the house and he never came back. “We asked Overseer Ndlovu about his whereabouts and he said the pastor had to go to the church’s headquarters in Harare to answer to his case.

“He gave us his uncle’s number but he could not help us locate him,” she said.Chronicle is in possession of the affidavit written by Pastor Mushayavanhu on May 27, 2019.

“I, Bruce Mushayavanhu take responsibility for the pregnancy of (name withheld) and I’m ready to take (sic) her but not now because I’m still making consultations on the way forward. I will give the final decision and way forward on June 3, 2019,” reads part of the affidavit.

Contacted for comment, Overseer Ndlovu confirmed the incident, saying the church was also looking for the pastor. “I was working with the young man here in Binga together with a few other pastors. He was deployed to Binga just after completing Bible school, and was still on probation.

“I advised our headquarters about his case and he was summoned before being demoted to an ordinary church member while the church was monitoring his commitment,” said Overseer Ndlovu. He said Pastor Mushayavanhu disappeared after a while and his mobile phones are not reachable. The pastor and his uncle could not be reached for comment as their mobile phones were not reachable. – state media

Seven police officers from Bulawayo have been arrested for storming into a resident of Njube suburb’s bedroom and assaulting him while threatening to shoot him as he lay naked for failing to pay a $1 500 fine at the Tredgold Magistrates courts.

Njube and Bulawayo Central police station officers identified as Samuel Marava, Leonard Mlezane, Kudakwashe Saungweme, Abious Munatsi, Edgar Muduva, Vincent Dube and Collen Zumo allegedly assaulted Mr Edmond Makonese (56) while threatening him with a gun.

The officers pleaded not guilty to assault charges before West Commonage magistrate Mr Stephen Ndlovu yesterday. The magistrate remanded them out of custody to today for continuation of trial.

It is alleged that Mr Makonese defaulted paying a fine after he was found operating as an agent in the city centre without a licence.

It was not stated exactly what Mr Makonese was found operating without being registered but he was arrested and taken to court where a magistrate fined him $1 500.

He did not pay the money. The seven police officers allegedly went to look for him at his home in connection with a warrant of arrest that was issued against him at Tredgold Courts for failing to pay the fine.

The court heard that the officers saw the complainant’s son, Tatenda, who was outside the house and assaulted him while asking him where his father was hiding.

They then stormed into the complainant’s bedroom and assaulted him while threatening him with a firearm.

Prosecuting, Ms Patience Sibanda said on March 6 this year at around 7:30AM, police officers stormed into Mr Makonese’s bedroom armed with a pistol and batons. They found him changing clothes and ordered him to lie down naked.

“The police officers assaulted the complainant by hitting him with hands, booted feet and baton sticks several times intending to cause bodily harm,” she said.

Ms Sibanda said one of the police officers threatened to shoot Mr Makonese who was now screaming in pain as he was being assaulted.

She said Mr Makonese sustained chest injuries, swollen eyes and a deep cut on his forehead and was admitted to Mpilo Central Hospital.The matter was reported to police leading to the officers’ arrest. – state media

Contemporary musician Jah Prayzah is on Saturday set to share stage with top other African musicians at the One Africa Music Festival in New York, United States of America.

Jah Prayzah, who is performing for the third time at the festival, will be the only Zimbabwean musician listed to perform at the extravaganza aimed at celebrating authentic African compositions

The festival focuses on African artistes and seeks to celebrate the top talent Africa is endowed with.

Jah Prayzah’s manager Keen Mashapaidze said they were prepared and excited to be performing with some of Africa’s biggest names in the entertainment industry.

“It is an honour for Jah Prayzah and Third Generation Band to be sharing the stage with top African musicians. We are going to learn one or two things from the festival,” he said.

“We are happy to be performing at this music festival and as the JP camp we promise our fans and event organisers a superb show.

“We will be out to prove to the world why we are rated among top performers in the continent.”

Mashapaidze said collaborations with other African artistes opened door for Jah Prayzah.

“I believe collaboration with Mafikizolo, Davido, Diamond Platnumz and Yemi Alade opened many opportunities for Jah Prayzah, which has seen him performing at a number of festivals around the world,” said Mashapaidze.

Jah Prayzah will be sharing the stage with Burna Boy, Tiwa Savage, Diamond Platnumz, Tekno, 2Face, Wyclef Jean, Zlatan, Harmonize and many more. – State Media

Farai Dziva|Masvingo based political analyst Jeffryson Chitando has said he hopes Zanu PF Youth League leader Pupurai Togarepi will soon wake up and realise he has been nursing an unrealistic dream about the country.

Chitando was responding to a statement made by Togarepi indicating that “Zanu PF will rule until donkeys grow horns.”

Said Togarepi :“The wise always say do not pick fights you can’t win and the clever ones stick to this time old piece of wisdom, it is free and has been proven by history to be a key ingredient to success and a happy life, but sadly and rather regrettably, our political opponents in the MDC are naive and fail to understand such basics.”

He added:”Zanu-PF is the ruling party of Zimbabwe, and with a very weak and out-of-sorts opposition such as the MDC, we will rule this country until donkeys grow horns, they can only dream, but then dreams are for free.

Zanu-PF will rule for ages to come, not because we are undemocratic, but purely because we are the people’s preferred party as has been proven since the turn of this year where the party has won by-elections with little effort.”

Chitando responded:” I suppose he (Togarepi) is daydreaming and he shall soon wake up and realize that he has been nursing unrealistic fantasies.

In the past Ian Smith made similar remarks,” said Chitando.

MIGHTY Warriors coach Sithethelelwe ‘Kwinji 15’ Sibanda expects her players to rise to the occasion when they face defending champions and hosts South Africa in a Cosafa Women’s Championship semifinal showdown at Isaac Wolfson Stadium tomorrow.

Sibanda’s charges booked their place in the semifinals after accumulating nine points following convincing victories over Angola (4-1), Mozambique (4-0) and Eswatini (7-0) to finish as Group C winners.

The Mighty Warriors are bidding for their first Cosafa Women’s Championship title since 2011 when they beat Banyana Banyana 1-0 in the final. Since then Zimbabwe have played second fiddle to South Africa who went on to win the 2017 edition and last year’s.

In fact, in the tournament’s six-year history, South Africa has won the title five times with Zimbabwe crowned champions once.

And as they prepare for another titanic battle against Banyana Banyana tomorrow, Sibanda appears relaxed while encouraged by her team’s great strides they have made since arriving here a week ago for the regional tournament.

“We are meeting the hosts and defending champions but I’m sure with the attitude and the improvement shown by the players in all the matches we have played so far, I think it’s going to be a 50-50 situation,” Sibanda said.

“I’m impressed especially when a team shows improvement obviously as a coach you are happy and you appreciate the efforts that the players have put in to get where we are.

“When we started this tournament our worry really was on our physical fitness whether we were going to match our opponents given the limited time we had in preparing. Our match fitness looking at the duration and the last time we participated in an international competition was last year’s Cosafa.H-Metro

Influencers on Ugandan social media and others with large, commercialised online followings must henceforth register their activities for monitoring by the state, the country’s communications regulator said on Thursday.

Authorities say the scheme, which also levies a $20 fee, is designed to clamp down on immoral or prejudiced content. Critics view it as part of an escalating campaign by President Yoweri Museveni to suppress online content disapproving of him and his government.

Last week, university lecturer and social researcher Stella Nyanzi was jailed for 18 months on cyber harassment charges stemming from a Facebook post criticising Museveni.

According to digital communications rights watchdog Unwanted Witness, between 2016 and 2018 at least 33 Ugandans have either been summoned and interrogated by police or charged with online communications offences.

The registration scheme is “not a positive move, it infringes on the rights to freedom of expression. People are able to express themselves well when they know that somebody is not watching over them,” said the organisation’s chief executive, Dorothy Mukasa.

Uganda Communications Commission (UCC) spokesman Ibrahim Bbosa said the “data communicators” to be registered included individuals with heavily followed social media and other online accounts that carried ads alongside other content on platforms including Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and YouTube.

That would include prominent musicians, journalists and socialites.

“As a data communicator… you’re pushing out content which could easily violate the known parameters of morality, of incitement, of ethnic prejudice or not be factual,” Bbosa said.

“We want online platforms to register with the commission so that we can monitor (them),” a process that the $20 fee was designed to fund.

Robert Ssempala, the national coordinator for Human Rights Network for Journalists-Uganda, said that, for many, the fee was prohibitive.

“The spirit of the regulation is essential to make it extremely unaffordable, to make it extremely frightening for people to engage in sharing information on social media,” he added.

Last year the government introduced a tax on the use of popular social media platforms.

Museveni has repeatedly complained that Ugandan social media is a vehicle for “lying” and “gossip”, interpreted referring to information critical of the government.

In power since 1986, he is widely expected to stand again in the next presidential election in 2021.-News365

By A Correspondent- Disgruntled Zanu PF members in Kadoma this week dragged former Kadoma Central Member of Parliament Fani Fanuel Phiri to appear before the Justice Tendai Uchena-led Lands Commission to answer allegations of diverting more than 600 residential stands to his personal project.

The unhappy party members, led by Panyika Jack, are accusing the former legislator of diverting the stands to his Berina Housing Scheme after the party had donated 50 hectares, being part of Pixie Combie, to the party leadership in Kadoma’s 12 wards.

“Sir, we are here as disgruntled Zanu PF members to find out how Berina Housing Scheme is being run by former Kadoma Central Member of Parliament, Fani Phiri,” Panyika said.

“The government through the then Local Government Minister, Ignatius Chombo, donated 50 hectares of land in Pixie Combie to be shared among Zanu PF leadership
in Kadoma, but the former legislator grabbed the land and formed Berina Housing Scheme with the stands that were meant for the people.”

Panyika added: “We want the Lands Commission to verify the ownership of the scheme; we feel that we were denied what was rightfully ours. What did Chombo see
in Phiri to give him 50 hectares? Phiri called for a meeting in Rimuka Hall sometime back and advised us to come with 50 names from the 12 wards of Kadoma Central constituency, but we discovered later that he had formed his own housing scheme.”

Phiri was then asked by the commission to leave the court room because some of the witnesses were not comfortable with him being in the room.

In an interview, Phiri, however, denied the allegations that he had diverted land that was meant for Zanu PF members, but actually applied for the 50 hectares through the Ministry of Local Government and National Housing in 2015 and his application was successful.

“The land in question does not and never belonged to Zanu PF. I actually applied for the land in 2015 and land was availed to me and then I formed Berina Housing Scheme to parcel out stands for residential stands,” Phiri said.

“I have all the documents to verify the ownership of that land in part of Pixie Combie. Those disgruntled members of Zanu PF are barking at the wrong tree and are being misled by someone. The land that was donated to the party is there, but they are trying to protect the one who has it and pointing a finger at Berina Housing Scheme, shame on them.”-Newsday

By Majaira Jairosi| Since the November 2017 coup, fate ushered in a new breed of political predators whose consciences allow them to be cunning. Today Zimbabweans are living in one of most deplorable circumstances in the history of tyranny, with nothing but their dignity stripped by a ruthless government. 

Soon after tricking both military men and the generality into believing that they were executing a revolution to target criminals around Mugabe, the current crop of rulers in-charge of Zimbabwe parcelled power to themselves.

They told Zimbabweans that they were a “New Dispensation”, A second republic, and that Zimbabwe was open for business. The leaders of the coup, Constantino Chiwenga, Sibusiso Moyo and Perence Shiri received so much goodwill and were supported by countries within the region and overseas countries particularly the united kingdom. The then UK ambassador Catriona Laing even became their patron. 

The rebels imposed Emmerson Mnangagwa as their president and once in office Mnangagwa promised political reforms and the upliftment of the lives of ordinary Zimbabwe. His advisors were telling him the right things to say, such that many people started to believe in what he was saying and others thought he was sincere.

Events were unfolding so fast that within months, Emmerson Mnangagwa announced the elections date, which were to take place on the 31 July 2018. It was after the promulgation that we started to notice signs that the system was not a “new dispensation” but that it was a “second republic” carrying on with the habits of the fist republic.

They started to deviate from their promises of political reforms and the betterment of the people of Zimbabwe. The militarisation of the government, interference with Zimbabwe Electoral Commission, State capture of entities like The Herald and its sister papers and the prevalence of corruption, were most notable signs of a regime that was not up for transformation. Zimbabweans were soon to realise that there was a sharp dichotomy between genuine reforms and an orgy of lies.

Months leading to the elections exposed the Zanu PF regime as an unrepentant cult and that Mnangagwa was copying every tactic from Mugabe’s playbook. Zimbabwe went to elections with the play field tilted against the opposition. Promises of political reforms were never fulfilled and Zimbabweans continued to suffer.

Then the hell broke loose on,1^st of August 2018, the eve of presidential elections results, when Zanu PF hoodlums clad in military fatigue fired live bullets at protestors killing six in the mayhem. This left the whole world shocked and many Zimbabweans deeply traumatised & disconsolate. Those whose were having a soft spot on him were embarrassed and appalled by Mnangagwa’s decision let alone an act of ruthlessness and murder. But again, this was him, a man whose political history is littered with gory stories of murder and ruthlessness.

Soon after the tragedy, I tweeted on my twitter handle, giving a warning that Mnangagwa was unrepentant, difficult to rehabilitate and that if given an opportunity, he would kill again. It only took him five months and he killed again in January 2019, this time more than a dozen people were massacred on one of the regime’s other most horrendous act of terrorism against its own people.

To date nothing has change, the regime has not reformed. The appointment of people like Utoile Salaigwana & Loice Matanda Moyo is suspicious and leaves a lot to be desired. Salaigwana was one of the elections officers who oversaw one of Zimbabwe’s ugliest elections in 2008, which saw hundreds killed, but they still went on to declare Mugabe as a winner after a one man race re-run. Loice Moyo is the wife of the man who announced the coup, Sibusiso Moyo, and has close links with ZEC’s Priscilla Chigumba and the judges who endorsed Mnangagwa in August 2018. She was appointed as chairperson of Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission (ZACC). 

Against this backdrop, it is high time that the opposition take a decisive position in dealing with the scourge of lies and pretence being exhibited by this regime. The planned demonstration on the 16^th of August 2019 was long over due and every citizen who cares about Zimbabwe must come out and join others. 

Mnangagwa’s regime has shown that they are not prepared to have a meaningful dialogue with people that matter, but they have opted to congregate a number of losers in a bogus dialogue, which they gave an acronym POLAD. The regime’s ignorance, its arrogance and contempt for the people, shows a total lack of sensitivity to national sensibilities, and now they have to safe the masses as they take dialogue to the streets. 

Given the regime’s record of dishonesty when it comes to matters that require negotiations, it is necessary that dialogue be taken to the streets. Dialogues that are done in hotels over a cup of tea and a bowl of scones are futile. Nothing will ever materialise, after all this Zanu PF regime is not sincere and has never been sincere.

All along, the regime has been lying about reforms, but again one cannot run a country on lies and deception. The struggle in our great nation throughout the history has been between men of honesty and dishonesty men, between men of certitude and crooks; and between those with national interest at heart and those who see the nation as a casino.

We are eagerly waiting to see the depth of their lies and commitment to genuine reforms.

Majaira Jairosi

Researcher and MDC Activist 

majairajairosi@gmail.com

The Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) has learnt with utter shock and dismay the contents of the recently released Auditor’s report which reveals that through the then Minister of Public Service Labor and Social Welfare and her associates, the organization suffered a potential financial prejudice amounting to $167,713, 756.00 and actual financial prejudice of $7,536,375.00.

Indicated in the same report is the criminal conduct of NSSA employees working in cahoots with the Minister where the former awarded the MetBank facilities that were not merited leading to a huge exposure of $62,003,96.00. The corruption within NSSA might look like mere figures, but quite sadly they have far reaching socio-economic implications on the livelihoods of pensioners. At the center of the effects of the NSSA scandal is the failure by the institution to honor its obligations on pensions. After decades of hard work and deductions, retirees become paupers due to the avarice of corrupt politicians who seek to profit at the expense of the impoverished workers.

The criminals must not go unpunished but beyond the punitive measures that we expect to be taken against those who have been caught with their fingers in the pie, the MDC proposes systemic and structural reforms of the public pension fund. We acknowledge that pushing for NSSA reform in the absence of political stability and under the current illegitimate administration is a tall order.

We also acknowledge that progress on pension fund governance builds on the level of governance in the whole economy which is currently in tatters. Nonetheless, guided by our conscience and core values of justice and fairness, we are taking it upon ourselves to stand in defense of the vulnerable pensioner; hence in the short term, the MDC through its parliamentary deployees will push for a
Pension Reform Act that will necessitate the creation of a Pension Reform Taskforce which seeks to:

1.Guarantee the provision of adequate and viable retirement income to all NSSA contributors

2.Protect the vulnerable against livelihoods risk due to corruption and undue political interference

3.Improve the hygiene and governance practice of the organization especially ensuring that the responsible Minister and Treasury must not have disproportionate power over the Pension Fund.

4.To ensure that there must be a clear separation between the investment arm of NSSA and the wing that deals with the administration of pensions.

1. Internal and external governance mechanisms and investment controls must be put in place in order to isolate pension reserve funds effectively from undue political influence.

The Act must empower the Pension Reform Taskforce to embark on a robust reform of NSSA exercise that will cure the current problems such as the fact that the pension fund is not shielded from political pressure, investment policies do not respect guidance regarding risk exposure and accountability to members is weak. The mechanism for minimizing corruption and fraudulent activities within NSAA must focus on:

1. Governance practices of the organization to ensure transparency, establish systems for mitigating conflict of interest and accountability of each function and roles. Members must have representation within the governance structure with strong mandate
2. Accountability must see the effective benchmarking of operations and performance of the organization. The civil servants have the right to know.

3.Fund Management, this must be in the custody of competent and qualified professionals with their only objective being to serve

The MDC also proffers the following suggestions which will help combat corruption in a future centralized retirement fund.

(i) Introduction of criminal sanctions for all corruption related offenses especially for public officials

(ii) Provision of and setting up special criminal courts to deal with corruption and economic crimes.

(iii) The right and mechanism for a direct recall of elected officials by the electorate.

(iv) Mandatory declaration of assets for public officials.

(v) Establishing, strengthening and institutionalizing the National Economic Crimes Inspectorate (NECI).

(vi) Regular State sanctioned life-style audits.

(vii) Limited Terms of office for all senior public executives including heads of State enterprises and parastatals.

(viii) Strengthening transparency mechanisms on State procurement including the introduction of public bidding on major public tenders.

(ix) Increased access to information for citizens including publication of terms and conditions of public and public- guaranteed contracts.

(x) Strengthened oversight role for parliament in all public enterprise.

(xi) Strengthened oversight role for the Civic Society and the Media.

The MDC is committed to an efficient, corruption-free civil service whose primary objective is to serve the citizen.

Maureen Kademaunga
Secretary for Public Service and Social Welfare

Farai Dziva|MDC T leader Thokozani Khupe believes dialogue is the permanent solution to the country’s economic problems.

“We want to know for how long we are going to feel that pain before things change because we know that the economy has been down and under for a long time. We are looking for permanent solutions for our problems. We don’t want things that are not going to help us at the end of the day.

“We want permanent solutions to our problems. We want an economy that is going to be built on a strong foundation. While we don’t expect things to change overnight, there are things that need to be fixed like the cost of living which should match salaries and wages. That is exactly what we said to them. Look into prices which are rising everyday. Surely they must do something about that,” Khupe told a state run publication.

Khupe is part of the Emmerson Mnangagwa led POLAD discussion forum.

The Nelson Chamisa led MDC has distanced itself from POLAD arguing the whole thing lacks sincerity.

Mthuli Ncube’s argument that inflation is not as high as claimed can find symphasers, but it is a technical argument which ignores realities as felt by Zimbabweans.

The basis of his argument is that we should compare ‘like with like’ (which is statistically logical), suggesting that the baseline data we have been using erroneously takes USD prices from say 2018 and compare then with RTGS prices in 2019! He insists we should compare USD prices in 2018 and USD prices now. ONLY that he forgets that it is the same government that he serves that started the 1:1 fictitious parity between USD and RTGS. That fictious 1:1 parity between USD and RTGS became a default baseline.

Using it as a baseline for inflation becomes logical. In people’s lives the goverment made comparing RTGS and USD a comparison of “like with like”! When the government scrapped the USD, it DIDN’T adjust and rate the new RTGS incomes to USD.

Which suggested that moving from USD incomes to RGTS was moving from ‘like to like’. This is what unleashed the inflationary rollercoster. If Mthuli were to be granted his claims of faulty baseline data, workers also would claim faulty baseline incomes on the change over from USD to RTGS. He cannot have his cake and eat it too! Mcdonald Lewanika Maxwell Sibanda Maxwell Saungweme Dzikamai Francis Bere Discent Hon Criss Freeman Chari Arnold Rangarirayi Chamunogwa Thulani Collins Mswelanto Edgar Gweshe Kumbirai Mafunda

Malaria has killed more than 1 800 people in Burundi this year, the UN’s humanitarian agency says, a death toll rivalling a deadly Ebola outbreak in neighbouring Democratic Republic of Congo.

In its latest situation report, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said 5.7 million cases of malaria had been recorded in Burundi in 2019 — a figure roughly equal to half its entire population. Of those cases, a total of 1 801 died from the mosquito-born disease in Burundi between January 1 and July 21, OCHA said.

The tiny country of 11 million people in the African Great Lakes region has still not declared a national emergency, despite OCHA saying the outbreak crossed “epidemic proportions” in May.

Videographic on malaria. A new report suggests virtually all mosquitoes that spread malaria can be killed by a genetically modified fungus. “The national malaria outbreak response plan, which is currently being validated, has highlighted a lack of human, logistical and financial resources for effective response,” OCHA said in its latest weekly bulletin on humanitarian emergencies.

“All stakeholders, including the national authorities and partners are called upon to provide the requisite resources to mount a robust response to this event before it escalates.”
A lack of preventative measures like mosquito nets, climatic changes and increased movements of people from mountain areas with low immunity to malaria were driving the crisis, OCHA said. — AFP

MORE than 100 people in Bulawayo were on Tuesday trained on how to make bread using Dutch ovens as part of Zanu-PF’s economic empowerment projects.

Zanu-PF last month launched empowerment projects which include bread-making, confectionery, petroleum jelly making, shoe polish making, floor polish making, building of Dutch ovens and the making of dust ovens.

The community bakery programme has seen various teams being dispatched across the country to train more community-based bread makers.

Bulawayo Provincial Affairs Minister Judith Ncube said the programme was targeting to ease bread shortages in the country and economically empower party members, especially women.

“This is a skills-training programme that is meant to improve food security in the country. More than 100 people came for the training at Davies Hall and they were trained how to bake bread using Dutch ovens and making shoe polish and candles.

“We expect them to train more people. We’re promoting self-sufficiency to make sure that people don’t spend time queueing for bread and other basic commodities in supermarkets,” said Minister Ncube.

She said the reason why people were being trained how to use the Dutch ovens is to enable them to operate even if they don’t have electricity.

The Minister said the turnout was encouraging.

“We’re happy with the positive turnout. This shows that people are embracing the programme.

These people have a task of imparting the acquired skills back in their wards. We want more people to acquire these skills,” said Minister Ncube.

The country has been facing bread shortages attributed to the shortage of foreign currency to buy wheat and other ingredients.

Wheat shortages have paralysed several bakeries, resulting in bread shortages and pushing the price of the commodity to $8.