NewsDay

30 August 2012

Education, Sport, Arts and Culture minister David Coltart finally met Zifa president Cuthbert Dube yesterday and emphasised the need to conclude the match-fixing investigations and focus on football development.

The meeting, according to a communiqué issued at the end by Sports and Recreation Commission Director General Charles Nhemachena, also resolved that an all stakeholders’ indaba be convened before the end of September.

Coltart’s deputy also attended the meeting, while Zifa was represented by Dube, his deputy Ndumiso Gumede, Saidi Sangula, the Northern Region acting chairman and Zifa chief executive Jonathan Mashingaidze.

The meeting noted the serious financial challenges that Zifa was facing resulting in the association being unable to fund its programmes, constantly seeking government financial support.

It was further noted that Government was also facing serious budgetary constraints to the extent that only limited support could be availed to sport.

Except for a few cases, corporate sector financial support was not forthcoming making it necessary to engage the sector in order to address the concerns that precluded them from supporting football.

The meeting reiterated the minister’s earlier call on the need to hold an Indaba with key stakeholders to find ways of extricating football from its current situation so as to provide opportunities for Zimbabweans, especially the youth, to benefit from the game.

Issues to be discussed would include football governance, financing of national teams, football development; and any other pertinent issues of interest to football stakeholders.

Zifa briefed the meeting on progress made in resolving the Asiagate issue. While noting concern over the delayed completion of the investigations, the meeting was pleased that the Zifa Ethics Committee was expected to finalise the matter in the next week or two.

The meeting observed that the matter had consumed the energies of the new Zifa Board over the past 2½ years and agreed that there was need for this matter to be concluded to allow the board to focus on developmental issues of the game.

The Herald

By Petros Kausiyo

30 August 2012

Government yesterday came face-to-face with the magnitude of financial challenges being faced by cash-strapped Zifa and acknowledged that the soccer mother body’s operations were being hamstrung by inadequate funding from the corporate world and the State. The Government, citing budgetary constraints, could however, not immediately commit themselves to bailing out Zifa with the Minister of Education, Sport, Arts and Culture instead opting for an all stakeholders indaba to be staged before the end of September which would to try and find solutions.

Coltart led a three-member government delegation that included his deputy Lazarus Dokora and an official in the ministry Ellen Shiriyedenga at a meeting with the Sport and Recreation Commission and the Zifa leadership.
Sports Commission director-general Charles Nhemachena and a member of the commission’s board Edward Siwela represented the supreme sports body while

Zifa president Cuthbert Dube led the association’s team which included Zifa vice-president  Ndumiso Gumede, chief executive Jonathan Mashingaidze and Northern Region chairman Saidi Sangula.

Zifa also got an opportunity to brief the government on the progress they have made in the seemingly endless Asiagate probe after which Nhemachena emerged to reveal that the state had implored on the association to “wind up the probe” and switch their focus to other facets of the game.

Nhemachena who last week led a Zimbabwe delegation to a Fifa/Cosafa and Interpol workshop on match-fixing and regional integrity said yesterday’s indaba had been arranged to affords Zifa a chance to present to Coltart the challenges which the soccer mother body has been facing.

Zifa president Dube had had to single-handedly fund Zifa’s operations including paying for the salaries of the national coach and the staff football body’s using personal resources, a scenario, which even the respected Harare business executive has admitted is untenable.

Dube has to date spent over $1, 2 million to bail out Zifa from mounting litigation from their creditors, fund the Warriors commitments and even the association’s day to day activities.

Yesterday Dube who has also decried the fact that they assumed a bankrupt association, was flanked by some of his colleagues in the Zifa leadership when he got an opportunity to appraise Coltart of the magnitude of the problems they are faced with.

Nhemachena said the indaba had also been arranged in order to give Zifa a chance to also discuss how to deal with a directive from Coltart from them to rotate national teams matches to centres outside of Harare.

The Sports Commission director-general also said the meeting had noted that the Zifa board had spent the last two and half years focussing more on Asiagate and that the association needed to shift attention to other demands in the game by successfully concluding the match-fixing scam.

“The meeting was organised to give Zifa an opportunity to brief the Ministry on the state of football in general and, in particular, to:

• Find ways to resolve Zifa’s funding challenges
• Review progress in resolving the Asiagate issue
• Discuss the modalities for implementing the Minister’s directive on the rotation of venues in hosting international events.”

Nhemachena then gave a summary of the resolutions that emerged from the indaba.

“The meeting noted the serious financial challenges that Zifa was facing resulting in the association being unable to fund its programmes and constantly seeking Government financial support.  It was further noted that Government was also facing serious budgetary constraints to the extent that only limited support could be availed to sport.

“Except for a few cases, corporate sector financial support was not forthcoming making it necessary to engage the sector in order to address the concerns that precluded them from supporting football.

“The meeting concurred with the Minister’s earlier call on the need to hold an Indaba with key stakeholders to find ways of extricating football from its current situation so as to provide opportunities for Zimbabweans, especially the youth, to benefit from the game. Among the stakeholders expected to participate at this indaba were relevant Government Ministries including but not limited to the Ministry of Education, Sport, Arts and Culture and Ministry of Finance; major corporate sponsors/potential sponsors; civic leaders such as Mayors, the Zimbabwe Republic Police, the Sport and Recreation Commission and other interested parastatals,” Nhemachena said.

The indaba, Nhemachena also said would table pertinent issues related to the governance of football in the country.

“Issues to be discussed would include football governance issues, financing of national teams and football development; and any other pertinent issues of interest to football stakeholders.

“The Hon. Lazarus Dokora would preside over the preparations of the one-day Indaba which is expected to be held as soon as possible before the end of September 2012.

“Zifa also briefed the meeting on progress made in resolving the Asiagate issue. While noting concern over the delayed completion of the investigations, the meeting was pleased that the Zifa Ethics Committee was expected to finalise the matter in the next week or two.
“The meeting observed that the matter had consumed the energies of the new Zifa board over the past 2½ years and concurred that there was need for this matter to be concluded to allow the board to focus on developmental issues of the game.”

Nhemachena said while it was imperative that the national teams games be rotated, the move had to take into account the Fifa and Caf stadium requirements which some of the venues outside the capital do not meet.

“The meeting appreciated the need to rotate venues for international matches rather than restrict activities to Harare only. This approach would give the game a national character and facilitate balanced development of football while acting as a catalyst for national cohesion, among other benefits.

“It was acknowledged that rotation could not be rigidly implemented as there was need to consider issues such as Fifa/Caf tournament regulations, stadia capacity and security among other issues, but the onus would be on Zifa to provide justification for deviation from the rotation arrangement.

“Related to the above was the need to ensure that Zimbabwe builds capacity (in terms of facilities) to host the African Cup of Nations.  It was regrettable that after failing to host the 2000 AFCON, stadia development projects were abandoned.

“To this end, Zifa would be expected to provide information on the work that needed to be carried out on the major stadia in Mutare, Masvingo and Gweru or Kwekwe to meet Fifa requirements.

“The Minister concluded by appreciating the value of the meeting as a positive and significant step towards resolving Zifa’s challenges for national benefit,” Nhemachena said.

29 August 2012

“The lack of suitable pitches meant we could not host any teams. The stadiums became unplayable since 2003. We have failed to compete at major international tournaments,” he said.

The government through the Ministry of Sports, Art and Culture managed to refurbish Khumalo Hockey stadium in Bulawayo a few years ago. The improvement of local stadia will see the local association winning bids to hosts international tournaments that will contribute in the improvement of the game.

The country recently got a vote of confidence from the Africa Hockey Federation to host the 2014 World League Hockey first round tournament.

The continental hockey mother board will however need assurance from the Minister of Sport, Arts and Culture, David Coltart, confirming that the local facilities will be upgraded for Zimbabwe to play hosts to such high profile tournaments.

Africa Hockey Federation’s Seif Ahmed said, “AHF support Zimbabwe to host the first half of the 2014 hockey season Zimbabwe, through their representative, want to host the pre-qualifiers of the World Cup tournament.

The tournament will have six competing nations and they are going to be men and women competitions,” he said.

Hockey has never seen the spotlight in Zimbabwe since the national women’s team won a gold medal at the 1980 Olympic Games and Hockey Association of Zimbabwe president, Kays Kanyangarara, believes the success of the sport lies in the refurbishment of the local stadiums.

NewsDay

By Henry Mhara

29 August 2012

Education, Sport, Art and Culture minister David Coltart will today meet with Zifa president Cuthbert Dube to discuss the raging Asiagate match-fixing scandal and other issues affecting the soccer mother body.

Coltart has in the past accused Dube of ducking his ministry and the Sports and Recreation Commission to discuss Zifa issues, in particular the match-fixing scandal and the association’s financial status. On the other hand, Dube has also been accusing the ministry of neglecting his financially-incapacitated association. However, addressing journalists at Quill Club in Harare on Monday evening, Coltart confirmed a meeting had been set for today.

“I’m meeting with Cuthbert Dube on Wednesday (today). This has been a long awaited meeting and I see this as a preliminary meeting, a start to try to address the problems which bedevil football in our country,” said Coltart.

Earlier this month, Coltart said: “I have, since (Fifa president) Sepp Blatter came to Zimbabwe last year, been trying to hold a finance indaba for Zifa, but have just come up against a brick wall. The purpose of this proposed indaba was to investigate the financial problems bedevilling football. Every time I have asked the president of Zifa to come for a meeting, he has failed to pitch up and I know that the chair of the SRC has suffered the same (fate). As they say, you can take a horse to water, but you cannot make it drink.”

Although Coltart refused to give away the agenda of the meeting, it is believed the minister will likely demand answers as to why the Asiagate scandal has taken so long to conclude, although lack of money is the main reason.

During a private meeting in Johannesburg, South Africa, on Saturday between Fifa director of security Ralf Mutschke and Zifa vice-president Ndumiso Gumede, board member finance Elliot Kasu and chief executive Jonathan Mashingaidze, the world football governing body pledged financial support once a formal request had been made.

Also issues on how Zifa have failed to come up with mechanisms to generate their own funds are set to be discussed between Dube and Coltart.

Zifa, after a directive from the SRC, probed the Warriors’ controversial trips to a number of Asian countries for friendly international matches where they were allegedly paid to lose games by betting syndicates linked to football officials in Zimbabwe.

The probe, which has become known as the Asiagate scandal, is now in its final phase with the Independent Ethics Committee saying they would have completed their work by early next month.

Open Equal Free

28 August 2012

Zimbabwe’s Minister of Education, Youth, and Sport, David Coltart, has recently revealed that US $90,000 was diverted from the education budget to cover the Zimbabwe Football Association’s (ZIFA’s) lodging debts. The move was made while Minister Coltart was attending the Olympics, and he only heard of it upon his return.

ZIFA has been facing financial trouble as of late and has recently been unable to fund a trip to Angola for the second round of a youth tournament qualifier. Teams have had to train in sub-par facilities, putting them at increased risk of injury due to uneven and unkept grounds. Coltart and the ministry have come under fire for not supporting the much-loved sport.

“It is intolerable that a sport which should be self-financing, such as Football, is in such a chaotic state that funds we can ill afford to divert from education and other sports have to be spent in this manner, bailing out ZIFA,” said Coltart. He further insisted that it is not the responsibility of the ministry to divert needed funds from education to support ZIFA, an independent organization.

Many say the simple fact that the minister was unaware of the diversion of funds points to a grave situation within the coalition government. With officials making decisions without other coalition members being involved, this may simply be a sign of the government’s lack of cohesion and overall chaos.

The Herald

28 August 2012

Zimbabwe got a vote of confidence from the Africa Hockey Federation to host the 2014 World League Hockey first round tournament. In a letter to the Minister of Education, Sport, Arts and Culture, David Coltart, the Africa Hockey Federation said they were in full support of the bid but need assurance that the local facilities will be upgraded to meet the required standards.

Seif Ahmed, of the AHF, said Zimbabwe had their full support to host the prestigious tournament but have to refurbish the Magamba Hockey Stadium to meet the standards of Khumalo Stadium.

“AHF support Zimbabwe to host the first half of the 2014 hockey season Zimbabwe, through their representative, want to host the pre-qualifiers of the World Cup tournament.

“The tournament will have six competing nations and they are going to be men and women competitions.

“In an effort to revive Magamba Stadium the government will be consulted to help in the 2013 budget. The tournaments will be used as the pre-qualifiers of the world hockey league to be staged in Rio Olympics in 2016.”

Sunday News

26 August-1 September 2012

The number of girls reportedly dropping out from school after the completion of their primary education has reached alarming levels and there is need for the Government to develop mechanisms that will effectively curb this trend, a Cabinet Minister has said.

Education, Sport, Arts and Culture Minister, Senator David Coltart, said over 50 percent of young girls meant to go to secondary education were being forced to drop out because of various reasons; chief among these being the unavailability of funds and societal preference to educate the boy child.

“Although I don’t have the exact figures off the cuff, I can tell you that over 50 percent of all girls who finish primary school education intending to go to secondary droop out and do not proceed.

“This in itself is a worrying figure and we have to try by all means to effectively reduce it. It should also be noted that the trend is also synonymous among the boy child but with the girls the figure is quite high,” said Senator Coltart.

He said the worst affected areas were the rural areas where most of the girls failed to get to secondary level because of lack or financial resources.

The minister said they were developing various schemes to ensure that every girl in the country attains some form of education regardless of processing academic merit.

“Recently we launched the Campaign for Female Education (Camfed) programme. Through this scheme we want to ensure that every girl child in the rural areas who can’t afford paying their fees and levies at least get a bursary regardless of academic merit.

“However this fund is inadequate. We need the Ministry of Finance to give us more funds to meet our goal of education for all,” said Minister Coltart.

The minister said Camfed will initially target 24 000 disadvantaged secondary schoolgirls throughout Zimbabwe with an initial amount of US$19 million.

He said education was a right for all which the Government had to strive to achieve and the first challenge will be to tackle the problem faced by the girl child.

“We really have to set our funding priorities straight as Government and we can’t allow this to continue. The more girls are educated the better the future as it said you educate a girl you educate a nation,” said the minister.

According to a report by a local non-government organization, Plan International, released last year, poverty, abuse and cultural practices were preventing a third of Zimbabwean girls from attending primary school and 67 percent from attending secondary school, thereby denying them basic education.

• The massacre at Marikana http://t.co/uNwR4d7M via @Borainic Very interesting analysis #
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• I am shocked by the u19 loss to PNG today. I agree with Ethan Dube when he says something is profoundly wrong. Postmortem required urgently. #
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• Once again @KirstyCoventry showed what a great patriot she is by watching #Zim beat Kenya in u19 #Rugby qualifier with her new fiance Tyrone #
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NewsDay

By Problem Masau

25 August 2012

Most boarding schools in the country have continued running entrances tests as money-making ventures despite government warnings.

Parents are complaining that the administrative costs charged by schools are exorbitant and the schools are inviting as many students as possible for a limited number of places.

Most schools are charging between $20 and $50 administration fees per child. The money covers the overtime they pay teachers to set, invigilate and mark the entrance tests and other administrative costs.

“The schools make us pay $20 as administration costs, but there is no guarantee that my child will secure the place so I end up taking them to as many schools as possible and in the process losing a lot of money,” said one parent in Harare.

There was outrage at Waddilove Boarding School when it became apparent that more than 800 children sat entrance exams for only 90 places.

“My child sat for four entrance examinations at different schools without success. The government should make it mandatory for schools to disclose in the media the number of children they would consider for Form One classes after the tests.

“The whole exercise has been turned into a scandalous fund raising activity by unscrupulous schools,” said another disappointed parent.

Schools often charge fees of between $20 and $50 per child to write the entrance test and an addition $5 or $10 for the entry form. The prospective students are also expected to bring their own materials for use in the entrance test.

“The fees would be justified if the children were provided with pens, pencils, food or other refreshments at the end of the tests. This is unfair and the government should intervene,” said Gift Samuriwo from Karoi.

Another parent, Emilia Guvheya, said the entrance tests have also rendered the Grade 7 examinations useless as they often do not count.

“There is no need for wasting tax-payer’s money marking the exams when the results are not being used to get a form one place for the child,” she said.

Early this year the government introduced a raft of measures to ensure mission and private boarding schools do not “fleece” parents and guardians through Form One entrance tests. The move was meant to protect parents and guardians against predatory practices by schools that invite an unlimited number of prospective applicants to compete for limited places, but schools have continued with the practice unabated.

The majority of private and mission schools are in the process of interviewing thousands of prospective candidates at different venues throughout the country.

There have been cases where a school with only places for 60 pupils would invite over 800 candidates to compete for the limited places and yet they would not be refunded if they fail to get places.

Education, Sports and Culture minister David Coltart recently said schools were now required to invite applicants not more than three times the number of places on offer.

He said all schools conducting entrance tests were required to do a pre-screening exercise before conducting the interviews to avoid taking money from pupils they would not offer places.

The measures are part of the new regulations the government has been crafting. Coltart said: “We have realised that the entrance interview system has been abused by most schools. The policy point of view states that schools should not exceed three applicants for every vacant place at a school.

“You cannot invite 2 000 applicants when you have 80 places. You will have diverted from the purpose of entrance tests to fundraising.”

Coltart said that schools should set time frames to receive applications as there was no need to continue receiving applications when the required number of candidates has been exceeded by three.

“Because of the spirit of profiteering you will find that a lot of schools keep on accepting applications when they actually know that they have the required number,” he said.

Deputy Minister Lazarus Dokora said they were also pushing to have a refund policy so that parents whose children fail to secure places at the schools would get their money back.

“Every school is aware of the number of places it can offer and should shortlist candidates who qualify. It is unfair to just take people’s money without reimbursing them,” he said.

However, some pupils who get four units at Grade 7 and those whose parents can afford to pay authorities will still get the places without attending interviews.

The schools are caught in a dilemma because if they use an arbitrary method to cut the numbers, they are accused of favouritism and when they allow all who wish to participate in the entrance tests, they are accused of profiteering.

The problem is also rife at many teacher training colleges in the country where thousands of prospective trainees are invited for interviews after which only a few candidates are selected.

Some who do not even attend the interviews simply pay their way in.

The Sunday News

By Vusumuzi Dube

25 August 2012

THE number of girls reportedly dropping out from school after the completion of their primary education has reached alarming levels and there is need for the Government to develop mechanisms that will effectively curb this trend, a Cabinet Minister has said.

Education, Sport, Arts and Culture Minister, Senator David Coltart, said over 50 percent of young girls meant to go to secondary education were being forced to drop out because of various reasons; chief among these being the unavailability of funds and societal preference to educate the boy child.

“Although I don’t have the exact figures off the cuff, I can tell you that over 50 percent of all girls who finish primary school education intending to go to secondary drop out and do not proceed.

“This in itself is a worrying figure and we have to try by all means to effectively reduce it. It should also be noted that the trend is also synonymous among the boy child but with the girls the figure is quite high,’’ said Senator Coltart.

He said the worst affected areas were the rural areas where most of the girls failed to get to secondary level because of lack of financial resources.

The minister said they were developing various schemes to ensure that every girl in the country attains some form of education regardless of possessing academic merit.

“Recently we launched the Campaign for Female Education (Camfed) programme. Through this scheme we want to ensure that every girl child in the rural areas who can’t afford paying their fees and levies at least get a busary regardless of academic merit.

“However, this fund is inadequate. We need the Ministry of Finance to give us more funds to meet our goal of education for all,’’ said Minister Coltart.

The minister said Camfed will initially target 24 000 disadvantaged secondary schoolgirls throughout Zimbabwe with an initial amount of US$19 million.

He said education was a right for all which the Government had to strive to achieve and the first challenge will be to tackle the problem faced by the girl child.

“We really have to set our funding priorities straight as Government and we can’t allow this to continue. The more girls are educated the better the future as it is said you educate a girl you educate a nation,’’ said the minister.

According to a report by a local non-governmental organisation, Plan International, released last year, poverty, abuse and cultural practices were preventing a third of Zimbabwean girls from attending primary school and 67 percent from attending secondary school, thereby denying them basic education.