MPs grill Chiwenga on Chinese vaccine
BY MOSES MATENGA/HARRIET CHIKANDIWA
MEMBERS of Parliament on Tuesday grilled Vice-President Constantino Chiwenga on the efficacy and possible side-effects of the Chinese-donated Sinopharm COVID-19 vaccine.
Chiwenga was questioned over several grey areas, including the lack of information about the vaccine, leading MPs to accuse government of experimenting on Zimbabweans.
Harare East MP Tendai Biti (MDC Alliance) said it was not clear why the government was choosing Sinopharm, which was not even the preferred remedy to deal with the virus in China.
Zimbabwe on Monday received over 200 000 doses of Sinopharm from China.
“Why have you registered for Sinopharm? The Sinopharm drug itself has not yet been peer-reviewed and has not been approved by the World Health Organisation (WHO),” Biti asked.
The 263 274 beneficiaries of the Pfumvudza programme are all smiles as the rains have pounded Manicaland since last week.
The Climate-Proofed Presidential Inputs Programme (Pfumvudza) has been oversubscribed with Manicaland having surpassed its initial target of 250 000 households.
Women constitute the bulk of beneficiaries of the programme as 206 483 of the 365 805 small-holder farmers that were trained are female.
A total of 263 274 households have so far established their Pfumvudza plots.
On Wednesday, Provincial Agritex officer, Mrs Phillipa Rwambiwa said Manicaland is targeting to plant 220 000 hectares of maize and 100 000ha of traditional grains.
Mrs Rwambiwa said planting is in full throttle against a backdrop of a favourable weather forecast pointing to normal to higher than average rainfall in this cropping season and greater chances of a La Nina, a weather pattern that is normally associated with wetter conditions.
Tuesday, December 15, 2020 NewsdzeZimbabwe
THE Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (Zec) is likely to fail
to run the 2023 harmonised elections due to gross underfunding, Parliament has
disclosed.
This came out in a report on the 2021 National Budget by
the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Justice chaired by Makoni South MP,
Misheck Mataranyika (Zanu PF).
The country is set to hold harmonised elections in 2023.
Zec was also supposed to hold by elections this month after the MDC-T led by
Thokozani Khupe recalled more than 32 MPs and several councillors countrywide
aligned to the MDC Alliance led by Nelson Chamisa. However, Vice-President
Constantino Chiwenga barred by-elections citing COVID-19 regulations.
Underfunded Zec likely to postpone 2023 elections
BY GARIKAI MAFIRAKUREVA
THE Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (Zec) is likely to fail to run the 2023 harmonised elections due to gross underfunding, Parliament has disclosed.
This came out in a report on the 2021 National Budget by the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Justice chaired by Makoni South MP, Misheck Mataranyika (Zanu PF).
The country is set to hold harmonised elections in 2023. Zec was also supposed to hold by elections this month after the MDC-T led by Thokozani Khupe recalled more than 32 MPs and several councillors countrywide aligned to the MDC Alliance led by Nelson Chamisa. However, Vice-President Constantino Chiwenga barred by-elections citing COVID-19 regulations.