Image Courtesy Maps of Zimbabwe

OPPOSITION parties have called for the total lifting of sanctions on Zimbabwe as the country has made tremendous progress in implementing economic and political reforms.

In a statement, opposition parties that are part of the Political Actors Dialogue (Polad) said the European Union (EU), which this week removed the last remaining Zimbabwean citizens from its sanctions, should pursue multilateralism and desist from prescriptive diplomacy which borders on interference.

Polad's International Relations and Re-engagement Committee (IRRC) said while it is encouraged by the latest decision taken by the EU, which removed Vice President Constantino Chiwenga, Zimbabwe Defence Forces Commander Philip Valerio Sibanda and former First Lady Grace Mugabe from the sanctions list, there is need for the 27-member bloc to go a step further and remove any form of embargo on Zimbabwe.

"Polad IRRC encourages the EU to desist from what seemingly is clear interference in Zimbabwe's democratic and governance space by prescribing to the Government how to administer not only its laws but, the governance architecture".

The opposition parties added that President Mnangagwa's administration has made it clear that it is preparing the country for an upper-middle-income society by 2030 and the reforms are a key pillar towards economic revival and political and social development which is expected to improve the livelihoods of ordinary people.

The EU declaration on Zimbabwe, Polad said, is indicative of the continued need to dialogue not only as part of international diplomatic engagement but also the need to bridge the previously fragile EU-Zimbabwe relations.

"Zimbabwe continues to make positive strides to engage with the West and the West has reciprocated the gesture by welcoming Zimbabwe back as part of the international community. 

"This is evidenced by the recent international invitations extended to Zimbabwe namely, Cop-26 in Scotland and the EU-Africa Summit held in Brussels.

"Polad IRRC remains concerned by the unwillingness of the EU to review the illegal restrictive measures on the Zimbabwe Defence Forces Industries (ZDI). Polad IRRC reiterates that, these illegal restrictive measures are not targeted, but have for the last 20 years, demonstrated that they have far-reaching negative impact on ordinary Zimbabweans.

"Further, Polad IRRC acknowledges that the democratic blocks in the space of human rights, law reform, rule of law is work in progress and welcome any assistance that the EU may extend to assist Zimbabwe in its quest to realise its international human rights obligations.

"Polad IRRC reiterates that dialogue is the only democratic mechanism to improve relations not only with the West but even at domestic level," read the statement in part.

President Mnangagwa has championed the implementation of several reforms in areas such as security, the economy, media, and justice delivery and this has not gone unnoticed.

Among the notable reforms are the repealing of the Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act and the Public Order and Security Act.

Six new independent television stations have been licensed to operate, and the opening of the airwaves has been hailed as a crucial step towards promoting transparency. Bulawayo News24

Getting to hospital, going to school, work or the market for most people in rural Tanzania depends on crossing a river safely.

About 40 million people live in remote parts of the East African country, one of the world’s poorest economies.

High costs of steel and reinforced concrete and a fast-growing population mean the national government struggles to build much-needed roads and bridges. 

But a fresh approach that revives the ancient art of stone arch bridge-building could safely and sustainably get millions of rural Tanzanians where they need to go.

Belgian charity Enabel and the Rural and Urban Roads Agency have, in the past four years, built 70 stone arch bridges for villages in Kigoma, North Western Tanzania.

“Stone bridges offer an ultra-low-emission alternative to concrete and steel with minimal maintenance costs,” said structural adviser Dr Adrienne Tomor.

Standard steel and concrete bridges call for expensive, carbon-greedy industrial materials and machinery. Kigoma’s new stone bridges are built with locally sourced stone, sand and wood and importantly, labour – which are all cheap and in good supply.

“The stone arrives on bike or large pieces cut out of a river bed and the local community dig the foundations,” said Dr Tomor, who teaches civil and environmental engineering at Brunel University London. “They are surfaced with the reddish local soil, murrum, which compacts easily and withstands the monsoon, which is no small ask. No machinery is used, so I have great respect for the builders who, sometimes working in monsoon floods, create these bridges through ingenuity, skill and muscle power.”

Shunning steel, cement and conventional construction techniques for local labour and materials cuts costs by 80 to 85% and lowers carbon emission 50 to 80%. And money spent building them can be poured back into the community, rather than spent on hiring expensive equipment and paying big companies big salaries. Besides cost and environmental benefits, having had a hand in their building, local people are invested in the bridges and want to maintain them.

The bridges cost about £35,000 each to build and are 80% funded by Enabel, which has translated a construction manual into Swahili for the roads agency to use. Putting the project out to tender, the agency can afford to build one concrete bridge a year. Involving local people in construction, that same budget can fund 10 stone bridges. It also means local governments don’t have to ask central government for financial backing and can upgrade more rural roads without their budget ballooning.

“Both the design and execution rely on simple rules of thumb that have been tried and tested through time,” said Dr Tomor, who checked quality and structural performance. “Masonry bridges last much longer than concrete or steel, probably minimum twice the life span. There is a compelling case for reviving this incredibly long-lasting material.”

Tanzania’s government is weighing up a plan to roll the project out nationally.“There is much the developed world can learn from this,” said Dr Tomor. “It certainly raises some questions about why masonry arch bridges aren't really considered as an option in the West... especially with our drive for more sustainable construction and reduction in carbon.”  Source: Brunel University

The application window for new biometric passports in Rwanda has opened as authorities announce plans to phase out the old passport format by June this year, local portal Taarifa writes.

The report quotes a statement from the Directorate General of the Immigration and Emigration Service of Rwanda as saying applications can start coming in because the old passports issued before 27 June 2019, will be out of use after June 28, 2022.

The Directorate also disclosed fees for various categories of the new passports as follows: ordinary passport for minors with two-year validity Rwf 25,000 (US$24); ordinary passport of 50 pages with five-year validity Rwf 75,000 ($72); ordinary passport of 66 pages with ten-year validity Rwf 100,000 ($96); service passport with five-year validity Rwf 15,000 ($14), and diplomatic passport Rwf 50,000 ($48). -  Ayang Macdonald, Biometric Update