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Letters: Only free, fair elections can send ED packing

Letters
President Emmerson Mnangagwa

THE only way to remove President Emmerson Mnagagwa from power is by making sure the elections are free, fair and credible.

We must demand the voters roll before elections.

It is madness to keep contesting elections we know will be rigged.

The Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC) should stick to the “no voters roll, no election” policy.

 Zanu PF will rig the vote, no wonder it is rushing Zimbabweans into a flawed election, where it has devised “winning in rigged elections” strategies.

It is not saying what these strategies are, they are top-drawer secrets.

Of course, this is nonsense. This is like being asked to fight on the frontline with no arms on the promise that powerful and secret weapons will be issued at the frontline. The truth is that CCC has no strategies at all.

We want free, fair and credible elections, just like any other nation which holds democratic elections.- Citizen

We need a new road funding system

POTHOLES are a massive investment and factor of production in Harare which is a boon for companies in tyre service, manufacturing and second-hand car dealers.

Looking at Harare roads, there is no chance that less than US$2 billion can turn them into world-class roads. Will the money ever be found in our lifetime?

The solution in my view, is first, the decentralisation of Zimbabwe National Road Administration (Zinara). This has been discussed several times competently. Generally, people believe Zinara is a waste of resources through a top-heavy administration, and its arbitrary priority list not backed by science.

Secondly, using ownership to give quarterly licences is unnecessary socialism. Roads don’t wear off depending on ownership but usage. The correct measure of usage is fuel consumption. A system to charge a few cents per litre of fuel consumed will generate revenue that correlates with road usage.

We then abandon licences, third party insurance and with it their display and police roadblocks to check on compliance.

Third, we should avoid arbitrary allocation and unscientific repair of roads and have a traffic count on all major roads using technology.

Fourth, let’s impose limits on heavy vehicles on suburban roads. Roads are being pummelled by trucks without compensation because of failure enforce municipal by-laws.

Fifth, councils must be strict that industrial and commercial zones be in areas with roads designed for heavy-duty vehicles.

Sixth, shopping centres and industrial areas should be responsible for some kilometres of road upgrades and maintenance in their areas of operation.

Seventh, the city must decentralise road maintenance, upgrades and repairs. - Brian Sedze

Govt must craft policies to safeguard land, community

THE term “citizen sector” applies to the realm of activity that brings the power of private citizens to bear on important public issues. Implicit in the idea of a vibrant citizen sector are vibrant citizens — individuals, families and communities that devote their time and energy to public causes. They attend town meetings, volunteer at schools, and contribute to bettering society.

Our government needs to come out of its comfort zone and implement policies which safeguard our land for the betterment of our communities, nations and continent. In Africa we still have a big deficit in proper implementation.

African governments have to adopt developmental economic policies, which place the African economy on a production-led growth trajectory in order to tackle the continent’s developmental challenges such as unemployment, inequality and poverty. A particular focus should be placed on ensuring greater local processing of Africa’s abundant natural resources. Africa is host to considerable mineral reserves of strategic significance to the global economy, with an estimated value of trillions of US dollars making the continent the wealthiest mining jurisdiction.

Africa can be defined as an economy with low levels of beneficiation as most of its minerals are exported as ores or semi-finished products rather than high-value intermediate to finished products.

The value addition to raw minerals is aiming at providing a strategic focus for Africa’s minerals industry in developing mineral chains and facilitating the expansion of beneficiation initiatives up to the last stages of the value chain. In economics, the difference between the sale price and the production cost of a product is the value added per unit.

Summing value added per unit over all units sold is total value added. Total value added is equivalent to revenue less outside purchases (of materials and services). Value added is a higher portion of revenue for integrated companies, eg, manufacturing companies, and a lower portion of revenue for less integrated companies, eg, retail companies. - Foster Ranganai

 

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