BY WANDILE TSHUMA 

The Parliament has called for urgent reforms and funding to unlock the potential of the country’s growing creative and digital content sector, citing its role in economic growth and youth employment.

During a sitting of the National Assembly last week , legislators raised concern that despite Zimbabwe’s “vast creative talent” in film, traditional arts and digital media, the sector remains largely informal, underfunded and poorly integrated into national development plans.

Lawmakers noted that thousands of young Zimbabweans producing content on platforms such as YouTube, TikTok and Instagram are earning livelihoods and promoting the country’s image, yet remain unrecognised as key economic players. This has left them excluded from structured funding, training and social protection systems.

The House also flagged persistent challenges including weak production infrastructure, piracy and the migration of talent, which have limited the growth of local creatives while foreign content continues to dominate the domestic market.

Parliament has now implored the Ministry of Sport, Recreation, Arts and Culture, working with Treasury, to allocate a dedicated budget for the implementation of the National Cultural and Creative Industries Strategy (2020–2030). Treasury was also urged to capitalise and operationalise the Arts Development Fund to support film and digital content production.

In addition, lawmakers called for the upgrading of community cultural centres into digital production hubs, as well as stronger enforcement of copyright laws and the creation of frameworks to formalise and monetise creative work, particularly for digital content creators.

Flooding is expected to intensify across parts of Southern Africa, including Zimbabwe, as heavy rainfall continues to affect the region, according to the latest weather hazards update from the Famine Early Warning Systems Network (FEWS NET).

In its Global Weather Hazards Summary for March 12–18, FEWS NET said moderate to locally heavy rainfall has been observed across several countries in the region, raising concerns about flooding in vulnerable areas.

The agency said the rainfall has affected western, central and eastern parts of Southern Africa, including Angola, Zambia, Malawi, central Mozambique, northern Madagascar, Botswana, Namibia, South Africa and Zimbabwe.

“During the past week, moderate to locally heavy rainfall was observed over northern, central and eastern Southern Africa,” FEWS NET said in the report.

The agency noted that flooding has already been recorded in some parts of the region, including Cunene Province in southern Angola and Rundu in northern Namibia, as rainfall continued across several countries.

Over the past 30 days, cumulative rainfall has been above average across southeastern Angola, northeastern Botswana, central South Africa, Lesotho, central and southern Zimbabwe and parts of Malawi and Mozambique, increasing the likelihood of flooding in low-lying and flood-prone areas.

FEWS NET warned that the situation could worsen in the coming days.

“(This week) , heavy rainfall is predicted over northern and eastern Zambia, including central and northern Angola, central and eastern Zambia, Malawi, northern and eastern Zimbabwe, Mozambique, northeastern South Africa, Eswatini and northern Madagascar,” the report said.

According to the outlook, the forecast rainfall raises the risk of flooding in many local areas across the region, particularly where soils are already saturated following weeks of above-average rainfall.

The weather monitoring agency also noted that hot conditions are likely in western Angola and southwestern Madagascar, even as other areas brace for continued heavy rains.

FEWS NET provides climate and food security early warning information to support humanitarian planning and disaster preparedness across vulnerable regions.

BY STAFF REPORTER 

Parliament has raised concern over increasing disputes over traditional leadership, with lawmakers warning that contested chiefdoms are undermining governance and development in rural communities.

Moving a motion in the National Assembly, Hwange West MP, Vusumuzi Moyo said the growing number of chieftainship disputes posed a threat to peace and cultural heritage.

“I rise today to debate on a matter which I believe is a matter of national importance, the growing prevalence of disputed chiefdoms across Zimbabwe and the serious threat that these poses to peace, governance, development, and the preservation of our cultural heritage,” Moyo told Parliament. 

He said many disputes date back to distortions created during the colonial period.

“Some of these disputes… emanate from colonial times… when the colonial masters moved in. When they moved in, we already had governing structures,” he said. 

Moyo also referenced communities in Hwange District, saying colonial relocations disrupted traditional governance systems.

“I remember in the constituency that I come from, most of these people… had been resettled from far-off lands, fertile lands, and dumped in Hwange District,” he said. 

He warned that unresolved leadership disputes weaken governance at grassroots level.

“Madam Speaker, when a chiefdom becomes disputed, those constitutional functions grind to a halt. Customary courts lose legitimacy. Land allocations become contested. Development programmes stall,” he said. 

Moyo urged Government to establish clearer succession procedures for traditional leaders.

“It is my sincere hope that… we could start the conversation of trying to restore our culture by providing the necessary legislation to make sure that we cure all this,” he said.