It has active chapters in Gweru, Gwanda, Plumtree, Victoria Falls, Hwange, Matopo, Lupane, Nkayi and Tsholotsho. The Daily Agenda is prepared using alerts from these chapters.
26 August 2008
BULAWAYO. The Federal Democratic Union (FDU) has sent its congratulations to the newly elected Speaker of the House of Assembly, Mr. Lovemore Moyo and his deputy, Ms Nomalanga Khumalo. In a statement, the party said that they would like to associate itself with the democratic forces in Zimbabwe’s new parliament that have invested their trust and hope in voting for the two.
“We note and recognize with great satisfaction that the two are the first from the opposition in the history of this country to occupy to these honorable offices. We congratulate and offer our best wishes to Mr. Moyo and Ms Khumalo for having been elevated to the honorable offices of the August House and sincerely believe that their elevation was well deserved and hope the two shall serve the same with humility, honour and dignity and advance the cause of democratizing and federating Zimbabwe” the FDU said in the statement. The FDU went on to say that this single step by the MDC political formations in parliament, was a great leap by broader democratic forces.
Meanwhile, the Federal Democratic Union (FDU) President, Paul Siwela, issued a statement expressing his and his party’s solidarity with the president of the MDC-T Party (Morgan Tsvangirai) and his team for solidly standing for justice, fairness and democracy by refusing to sign an agreement of political power sharing and standing foursquare for power transfer.
In the statement, Mr. Siwela emphasized that on 29 March 2008 the people of Zimbabwe voted for power transfer and not power sharing, hence, the MDC had to be mindful of the suffering of the people and refuse to betray those who paid the supreme sacrifice, lost their properties, livelihoods and dignity in their quest to democratize politics in this country.
“The only constant permutation in the negotiation process that must guide the democratic forces should be political change that should lead to political power transfer. Anything besides that would be a miscarriage of democracy,” Mr. Siwela said
LUPANE. Villagers are yesterday celebrating the nomination of their senator Dalumuzi Khumalo for the post of President of the Senate. He was nominated for the prestigious post and got a sizeable number of votes despite the fact that he ultimately lost to ZANU PF’s Edna Madzongwe in the Upper House dominated by Mugabe supporters and appointee. The people of Lupane were pleased by the fact that a leader from their area had ably represented them by vying for a post in the august house.
25 August 2008
BULAWAYO. Bulawayo Agenda held a meeting on Saturday 23 August at Rainbow Hotel whose theme was “Interparty Talks: Deal Sealed or Deadlock?” The speakers were Pastor Goodwill Shana, Morrison Sifelani and Peter Baka Nyoni while Anastasia Moyo moderated. Dr Shana said the talks were a potential deadlock and that since no political party had conclusively won the 29 March elections, power sharing was best for the country. Morrison Sifelani, an activist, on the other hand said a power transfer was the best option as ZANU PF had been a failure for the past 28 years and there was no hope that it would do any better in a new dispensation. He said that as long as we are failing to face the problem head on there was no way the Zimbabwean crisis would be resolved. The last speaker, Peter Nyoni, the ZANU PF provincial deputy information secretary, differed in that he believed that there was no deadlock in the negotiations but that one party had adjourned to go and consult. He added that the talks would
not stop in the absence of Tsvangirai as it was important that the negotiators moved on to attend to other state issues.
Meanwhile, the Bulawayo Progressive Residents Association (BPRA) held two meetings during the weekend which were attended by the mayor of the City of Bulawayo, Thaba Moyo, BPRA board members, respective councilors and residents. The first meeting was at Nkulumane were service delivery was discussed. The residents suggested that council introduce staff retention incentives to stem the debilitating brain-drain. The second meeting held on the same day was at Njube where residents restricted their issues to those affecting vendors. The last meeting that was scheduled for Sunday morning did not take place as the venue was booked by a Bulawayo United Residents Association (BURA), a rival association. The meeting was rescheduled to another date.
PLUMTREE. Crowds of people assembled in the border town on Monday, eager to purchase maize that was delivered there last Friday. However, by the end of the day, there was little hope that it would be sold to individuals. The price of the maize has gone up from ZW$25 to ZW$150 a bag which is quite expensive for most villagers. Lorries, loaded with maize also left town headed for rural areas to deliver the precious commodity where villagers were can start buying with immediate effect. Due to the fact that the town has one grinding mill only a single wagon was given to them and the rest sent to the rural areas. According to some the maize is not enough to sustain all of them.
Meanwhile, the Plumtree offices for the BACOSSI food scheme have been shut down for no apparent reason. The scheme, which has been the mainstay of the government’s stuttering relief programme, is mired in controversy with some areas saying that they have been left out. Villagers have expressed dismay over the closure and fear that it would result in their being overlooked