News Feeds – Page 134 – Thompson Stevenson & Associates

Lithuania seizes Belarus shipment of fire trucks to Zimbabwe over sanctions

Posted on 13th September 2024 by TSA Press

BULAWAYO
–
Lithuania
is
holding
onto
17
fire
engines
seized
in
March
2023
while
being
shipped
to
Zimbabwe
from
neighbouring
Belarus
which
is
under
European
Union
sanctions,
officials
said
on
Wednesday.

Zimbabwe’s
new
attorney
general
Virginia
Mabhiza,
appointed
last
September,
flew
to
the
small
European
country
earlier
this
year
on
a
mission
to
get
the
trucks
released
but
her
efforts
were
in
vain,
ZimLive
was
told.

Information
secretary
Ndavaningi
Mangwana
said
the
government
was
still
appealing
to
the
Lithuanians
to
release
the
fire
tenders.

“We
eagerly
await
the
release
of
the
fire
tenders.
These
fire
engines
will
be
critical
in
supporting
firefighting
operations,
protecting
life
and
property
as
well
as
preserving
Zimbabwe’s
world
heritage
sites
and
the
crucial
crops
that
defied
the
devastating
drought,”
Mangwana
said.

Priscilla
Misihairabwi
Mushonga,
Zimbabwe’s
ambassador
to
Sweden
who
also
oversees
Lithuania,
Finland,
Denmark
and
Norway
is
understood
to
have
also
been
engaged
in
meetings
with
the
Lithuanians
to
free
the
trucks
acquired
by
the
local
government
ministry
for
distribution
to
local
authorities.

Mabhiza
explained:
“17
fire
tenders
were
seized
on
March
7,
2023,
at
the
Malku
Bay
seaport
of
Klaipeda
in
Lithuania
.

“The
explanation
has
been
that
the
fire
tenders
or
certain
components
on
the
fire
tenders
were
manufactured
by
a
Belarusian
company
which
is
on
EU
sanctions
.

“Zimbabwe
maintains
that
we
are
an
innocent
third
party
who
bought
the
fire
tenders
without
any
knowledge
of
such
details.”

The
trucks
were
supplied
by
a
company
called
Red
Lion
under
an
opaque
deal
engineered
by
Belarusian
arms
dealer
Alexander
Zingman.

The
fire
tenders
were
being
delivered
through
Lithuania
to
a
port
on
the
Baltic
Sea
from
landlocked
Belarus
when
they
were
seized.

Belarus
is
under
European
Union
sanctions
since
2020
over
human
rights
abuses
under
its
tyrannical
leader
Aleksandr
Lukashenko.

During
the
same
period,
the
EU
also
had
targeted
sanctions
on
Zimbabwean
officials
and
certain
companies,
but
these
did
not
cover
trade
in
non-lethal
equipment

The
Zimbabwe
government
argues
that
the
Lithuanians
have
no
legal
basis
to
be
holding
onto
the
trucks.

Lithuania’s
foreign
ministry
has
not
responded
to
our
questions
over
the
seizure
of
the
fire
trucks.

Zimbabwe’s blueberry farmers chase booming demand but face funding woes

Posted on 13th September 2024 by TSA Press

HARARE
–
Zimbabwean
farmers
aim
to
capitalise
on
increasing
global
demand
for
blueberries,
but
self-funded
growers
like
Willard
Zireva
cite
a
lack
of
finance
and
minimal
government
support
as
barriers.

Despite
being
one
of
the
fastest
growing
blueberry
producers
globally,
with
production
doubling
to
7,000
metric
tons
last
year
due
to
a
favourable
climate,
Zimbabwean
farmers
are
struggling
to
secure
financing
for
their
operations.

Zimbabwe’s
horticultural
exports,
driven
in
part
by
blueberries,
exceed
$100
million
annually.
The
sector’s
exports,
which
peaked
at
$140
million
in
1999,
were
disrupted
when
former
President
Robert
Mugabe
began
the
seizure
of
white-owned
farms
to
resettle
landless
black
citizens.

Despite
the
sector’s
recent
growth,
banks
remain
wary
of
financing
agriculture
due
to
uncertain
land
tenure,
making
it
challenging
for
black
farmers
like
Zireva
to
expand.

Blueberry
farming
in
Zimbabwe
is
currently
dominated
by
the
few
remaining
local
white
farmers,
many
of
whom
are
looking
for
foreign
investment
to
expand
operations.

Zimbabwe’s
banks
do
not
accept
the
99-year
leases
handed
by
the
government
to
resettled
farmers
as
collateral
for
borrowing.

The
banks
also
tend
to
be
reluctant
to
lend
to
farmers
because
the
state
has
in
the
past
arbitrarily
acquired
farmland,
including
from
some
Black
commercial
farmers.

Zireva
cultivates
12
hectares
of
blueberry
crops
at
his
Talana
farm
100km
west
of
Harare,
which
he
bought
freehold
in
the
1990s
before
the
land
seizures.

He
said
that
he
had
to
rely
on
personal
savings
to
plant
his
first
crop
after
a
local
bank
denied
him
funding.

“If
funding
is
available,
there
is
a
massive
growth
opportunity,”
he
told
Reuters.

Growing
a
hectare
of
blueberries
in
Zimbabwe
requires
at
least
$100,000
to
import
plants,
peat
pots
from
Europe,
and
special
shades
for
the
crops.

Other
costs
include
refrigerated
packaging
warehouses
and
water
resources.

“We
need
interventions
and
interventions
have
to
come
from
the
government.
Nobody
else,”
said
Zireva,
referring
to
concessional
funding
for
farmers.

The
finance
and
agriculture
ministries,
as
well
as
the
Bankers
Association
of
Zimbabwe
(BAZ),
did
not
immediately
respond
to
requests
for
comment.

Zireva’s
farm
aims
to
export
120
metric
tons
of
blueberries
to
the
United
Kingdom
and
East
Asia
this
year,
but
he
says
the
demand
far
exceeds
their
ability
to
supply.

His
farm
requires
$1.2
million
to
double
output,
he
added.

“We
are
hoping
that
we
can
get
funding
next
year
to
put
in
eight
hectares
so
that
we
get
to
20
(hectares),”
Zireva
said.

Zimbabwe’s
Horticultural
Development
Council
(HDC)
said
the
lack
of
long-term
finance
was
a
significant
barrier
to
the
sector’s
plans
to
double
blueberry
hectarage
to
1,500
hectares
by
2030.

HDC
CEO
Linda
Nielsen
told
Reuters
that
without
funding
“we
will
see
growth
in
the
blueberries
sector
coming
off
on
the
tonnage
side.
We
really
need
to
grow
the
hectarage
and
maintain
our
market
share.”
–
Reuters

Broadcasting authorities ban ads on prophets and traditional healers

Posted on 13th September 2024 by TSA Press

HARARE
—
The
Broadcasting
Authority
of
Zimbabwe
(BAZ)
has
issued
a
directive
to
all
broadcasters,
prohibiting
the
airing
of
advertisements
promoting
prophets,
traditional
healers,
and
traditional
herbs
or
medicines
that
cannot
be
authenticated.

In
a
letter
addressed
to
the
chief
executives
of
Zimbabwe’s
leading
broadcasting
companies,
including
Zimbabwe
Broadcasting
Corporation,
ZiFM,
Star
FM,
and
several
community
radio
stations,
BAZ
reminded
stations
of
their
duty
to
protect
consumers
from
misleading
information.

The
authority
emphasized
that
the
ban
is
in
line
with
Section
23
(a)
&
(b)
of
the
Broadcasting
Services
(Code
of
Conduct
for
Broadcasters)
Regulations,
2023,
as
well
as
Section
27(4)(e)
of
the
Broadcasting
Services
(Licensing
and
Content)
Regulations,
2004.

The
move
aims
to
prevent
the
public
from
being
misled
by
unverified
claims
made
in
advertisements
from
churches
and
traditional
healers.

BAZ,
however,
clarified
that
the
directive
does
not
extend
to
discussions
or
debates
on
these
topics,
as
long
as
they
do
not
contain
advertising
content. Kukurigo