Amai Jukwa

THE British media routinely subjects its unquestioning audience with a villainous portrayal of a “tyrannical Robert Mugabe menacing the streets of Harare with a Kalashnikov in one hand and a machete in the other.”

This mischievous narrative is not the child of ignorance. There is quite some method to this seeming madness on the part of the British.

EDITORIAL COMMENT: The tragic death of a 12-year-old Headlands boy Christpower Maisiri in an inferno that gutted a grass-thatched hut he was sleeping in together with his siblings at the weekend should not be used by politicians to whip up emotions and create a hullabaloo. Instead, political actors should join President Mugabe in condemning all forms of violence and work for peace while awaiting due processes and the police to complete their investigations.

The Parliamentary Select Committee has started public awareness campaigns to inform the people about the provisions of the draft constitution.

The awareness campaigns began on Monday at various centres countrywide. But the start of the campaigns has not been without hitches. In Bulawayo there was a false start after Copac officials failed to turn up at two of the first meetings at Killarney Hall and Lochview Primary School.

Residents had turned up for the meetings but were let down by Copac officials who were nowhere in sight. At Lochview Primary School there was no sign of a meeting. The school head Mr Stephen Lumbida told our news team that the Copac team had rescheduled the meeting to today.

In Kwekwe there were delays with the meeting at Mbizo only starting at 3.15pm instead of 2pm as advertised in the media by Copac.

There was also a mix-up on the time of the Torwood meeting as residents believed it was starting at 2pm instead of the advertised 10am.  Copac officials had to use a hailer to invite people for the meeting. But there are obviously some people who missed the opportunity to get an appreciation of the draft constitution because when they turned up at 2pm, the meeting was over.

In Harare some people walked out of the Mai Musodzi meeting in Mbare objecting to be addressed by MDC-T's Mr Innocent Gonese because they thought it was a party programme. Copac should clearly spell out to the people that the programme is not a party programme but a national matter. We commend Cde Flora Buka for her timely intervention to explain to the people that the Copac programme is not a partisan issue.

But this information should have been given to people ahead of the meetings so that they should expect to be addressed by officials who are not necessarily members of their own parties since this is a national programme.

We understand that the publicity campaign on the draft constitution is a mammoth project that cannot pass without unforeseen challenges but we urge Copac to do its best to deal with the problems. This draft constitution is an important document because it is the country's proposed supreme law. People must be given the opportunity to have a look at the draft constitution or to be told what the document contains. This will enable the people to make an informed choice when voting in the referendum scheduled for 16 March.

Copac should make use of every available medium that it can use to disseminate information about the awareness campaign meetings.

We believe this will leave no room to exploit for those challenging the whole process around the draft constitution.

Already the Professor Lovemore Madhuku-led National Constitutional Assembly is challenging the proclamation of 16 March as the date for the referendum by President Mugabe.

The Judge President, Justice George Chiweshe, is today expected to make a ruling in the High Court in Harare whether the court has jurisdiction to review President Mugabe's proclamation of 16 March as the date of the referendum on the draft constitution.

No process can be as smooth sailing as we all wish it to be but we urge Copac to put its house in order and leave no opportunity for those challenging the constitution-making process to exploit and use as ammunition in the courts.

Leonard Ncube

RECENTLY, a young man dragged his beautiful wife  to the Bulawayo Magistrates’ Court claiming that she was beating him regularly at their matrimonial home.

AIRPORTS are strategic national assets which should receive high priority when it comes to funding and it is in this vein that we call on fiscal authorities to urgently release funds for the completion of the Joshua Mqabuko Nkomo International Airport.

While we welcome reports that work  on the $150 million rehabilitation and expansion project of the Victoria Falls International Airport has started, we bemoan the slow pace of the JMN project whose commissioning has missed several deadlines due to funding constraints.

The project, which has been progressing at a snail pace for almost a decade, stands at the heart of efforts to revive Bulawayo as it is the gateway to the city for various international destinations.

The city cannot attract meaningful investment if its crucial infrastructure such as the airport is not up to standard and that is why it is essential that the project is completed speedily so that international airlines which are making a comeback into Zimbabwe can consider Bulawayo as a potential destination.

The airport was reportedly 98 percent complete in December last year with authorities saying the project needed only a few touch ups.

Addressing journalists after touring      the site, the Minister of Transport, Communications and Infrastructural Development, Cde Nicholas Goche said although the Government had not been happy with the pace at which construction work was progressing, he was hopeful that the new-look airport would soon be operationalised after the contractor promised to officially hand it over to the Civil Aviation Authority of Zimbabwe on 2 November last year. At that time, Treasury had released an additional $2 million to the project.

Cde Goche made it clear that there were squabbles between the Minister of Finance and CAAZ over some figures and that was stalling progress.

"I am not happy with the pace at which construction is happening, not that it is the fault of the contractor, but the Government. We have been failing to make funds available to complete the job. Originally, the handover was supposed to be there in May or June but it was not to be because of the battle between the Minister of Finance and CAAZ over some figures, but that has been resolved," he said.

Government had tentatively set 22 December — Unity Day — as the date of commissioning and operationalisation of the airport but that was missed as has several deadlines before then. This year it is absolutely crucial that the airport is opened and operationalised before the United Nations World Tourism Organisation general assembly slated for the resort town of Victoria Falls in August.

Zimbabwe's aviation industry has been making a slow but steady recovery with connectivity improving significantly as evidenced by the re-entry of such airlines as Emirates, KLM and LAM into the market while others such as Air Botswana, Air Namibia and South African Express have expanded their routes in the country.

JMN Airport currently services a daily flight to Johannesburg run by South African Airways while on the domestic front, Air Zimbabwe runs a service to Harare via Victoria Falls on selected days. Government can re-coup some of the $25 million it has so far sunk into the JMN project if the airport increases the number of flights it receives particularly from international destinations.

On the Victoria Falls project, we commend the progress that is taking place there after state of the art earth-moving equipment arrived in the resort town from China recently.

The project entails construction of a 4 000 metre runway, a control tower, new terminal building, inside road network, car park as well as rehabilitation of the present runway. Although the project is not expected to be complete before the general assembly scheduled for 24-29 August, it will undoubtedly leave a lasting legacy for the resort town and its tourism sector.

We also feel the upgrading of the country's airports should be done in tandem with spirited efforts to revive the national airline, Air Zimbabwe.

The national carrier should be adequately capacitated to compete on an equal footing with other airlines which have returned to the country's skies.

It would be futile to have world class airports which would be only benefiting foreign airlines while ours continues to totter on the brink of collapse.

Ian Scoones

A RECENT report by the Global Agricultural Information Network has shown that Zimbabwe’s sugar industry is rebounding fast on the back of a six percent increase in area cultivated mostly by private out growers who are part of the A2 land reform allocations. Sugar output in 2012/13 is expected to increase by almost 16 percent to 430 000 tonnes from the 372 000 tonnes in 2011/12 season, with 160 000 tonnes expected to be exported, earning important revenue for the country.

Lungile Tshuma

AS harmonised elections draw nearer, the activities of NGOs — many of which have been accused of involving themselves in politics — are once again under the spotlight. 

Reports that Government has secured enough money from local sources to fund the referendum for the draft constitution are good news to Zimbabweans. The Minister of Justice and Legal Affairs Cde Patrick Chinamasa told the media at the weekend that adequate money had been raised locally to fund the referendum, slated for 16 March.

Esau Mandipa

It is really impossible for me to hide the good feelings I got after reading the article titled “President uplifts handicapped children,” which appeared in The Sunday Mail, in its 17-23 February 2013 issue.

It was reported that President Mugabe had unveiled a massive income-generating project for Copota School of the Blind in Masvingo two days earlier. There is no doubt that such a dream and vision of empowering persons with disabilities is one of the characteristics of a good leader and on behalf of

Vaidah Mashangwa

Dr Christiaan Barnard, a South African heart surgeon (he died in 2001 at 78) once remarked that exercise is like a cold bath which you hate when you are taking it but happier when it is over.

Such a pattern is normal for most exercise programmes. While exercising is good for everyone’s health, most people regard it as an unpleasant, time-consuming and monotonous.

Preparations for the holding of the referendum scheduled for 16 March are in full swing. The Constitution Parliamentary Select Committee (Copac) which is spearheading the publicity campaign for the new constitution has already deployed teams to all districts throughout the country to lead the campaign.