EDUCATION IS A CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHT, NOT A BUDGETARY AFTERTHOUGHT Senator Jameson Timba-DCP Convenor 23/10/26 UNICEF's latest findings on education financing in Zimbabwe raise serious questions about our national priorities and the future we are building for our children. Government continues to celebrate economic growth, improved GDP rankings and ambitious development targets. Yet many of our schools remain under-resourced, teachers struggle with inadequate remuneration, and vulnerable children face serious barriers to accessing quality education. Reports indicate that education received approximately 16.3% of the 2026 national budget, below the internationally advocated benchmark of 20%. But the issue goes beyond the percentage allocated. There is a fundamental difference between money announced in a budget, money actually released by Treasury and resources that eventually reach the classroom. A budget speech does not buy textbooks. An allocation on paper does not build classrooms. And a government promise does not pay a teacher. The real test is what reaches the school, the teacher and the learner. Our teachers deserve decent remuneration, professional support and working conditions consistent with the important responsibility they carry. Our children deserve properly equipped classrooms, adequate learning materials, functioning sanitation facilities and equal educational opportunities, whether they live in urban centres or remote rural communities. Programmes such as BEAM must be adequately funded, with outstanding obligations addressed and assistance delivered on time. No child should be denied education because of poverty. Section 75 of Zimbabwe's Constitution guarantees the right to education. This is a constitutional obligation, not a political favour. As Government prepares the 2027 National Budget, we must demand adequate education funding, transparent expenditure reporting, better teacher remuneration, timely disbursements and greater investment in disadvantaged schools. We must also ask a fundamental question: If Zimbabwe's economy is growing, where is the educational dividend for our children? Economic transformation must be visible in our classrooms, not merely in GDP statistics. A nation reveals its priorities through what it funds and what it actually delivers. The future of Zimbabwe is being shaped in its classrooms today. If we neglect those classrooms, we compromise tomorrow. Education is not a cost to be minimised. It is an investment in the dignity, productivity and freedom of our people. @JamesonTimba @LynneStactia @MacBelts @NDWGZimbabwe @NgarivhumeJ @OpenParlyZw @zimsolidarity01 @zulukingggg @NewZimbabweCom

EDUCATION IS A CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHT, NOT A BUDGETARY AFTERTHOUGHT Senator Jameson Timba-DCP Convenor 23/10/26 UNICEF's latest findings on education financing in Zimbabwe raise serious questions about our national priorities and the future we are building for our children. Government continues to celebrate economic growth, improved GDP rankings and ambitious development targets. Yet many of our schools remain under-resourced, teachers struggle with inadequate remuneration, and vulnerable children face serious barriers to accessing quality education. Reports indicate that education received approximately 16.3% of the 2026 national budget, below the internationally advocated benchmark of 20%. But the issue goes beyond the percentage allocated. There is a fundamental difference between money announced in a budget, money actually released by Treasury and resources that eventually reach the classroom. A budget speech does not buy textbooks. An allocation on paper does not build classrooms. And a government promise does not pay a teacher. The real test is what reaches the school, the teacher and the learner. Our teachers deserve decent remuneration, professional support and working conditions consistent with the important responsibility they carry. Our children deserve properly equipped classrooms, adequate learning materials, functioning sanitation facilities and equal educational opportunities, whether they live in urban centres or remote rural communities. Programmes such as BEAM must be adequately funded, with outstanding obligations addressed and assistance delivered on time. No child should be denied education because of poverty. Section 75 of Zimbabwe's Constitution guarantees the right to education. This is a constitutional obligation, not a political favour. As Government prepares the 2027 National Budget, we must demand adequate education funding, transparent expenditure reporting, better teacher remuneration, timely disbursements and greater investment in disadvantaged schools. We must also ask a fundamental question: If Zimbabwe's economy is growing, where is the educational dividend for our children? Economic transformation must be visible in our classrooms, not merely in GDP statistics. A nation reveals its priorities through what it funds and what it actually delivers. The future of Zimbabwe is being shaped in its classrooms today. If we neglect those classrooms, we compromise tomorrow. Education is not a cost to be minimised. It is an investment in the dignity, productivity and freedom of our people. @NgarivhumeJ @JamesonTimba @NewsDayZimbabwe @amnesty_zim @LynneStactia @daddyhope @NewsHawksLive @NewsDayZimbabwe @ZimEye @Zinasuzim @mutamba_tsitsi @BBCBreaking @AljezeraNews

THE CONSTITUTION IS SUPREME, NOT ZANU-PF The political resolutions adopted at ZANU-PF's recent Chinhoyi Conference raise fundamental questions about the future of constitutional governance in Zimbabwe. Three issues deserve particular attention. 1.PRESIDENTIAL TENURE AND JUDICIAL INDEPENDENCE ZANU-PF has resolved to retain President Mnangagwa's party leadership until 2030 and postpone its elective congress to 2029. These decisions have been linked to amendments to our national Constitution that remain subject to judicial challenge. ZANU-PF is entitled to organise its internal affairs. However, its conference resolutions cannot determine the outcome of constitutional litigation. The courts must be allowed to discharge their constitutional responsibilities independently. 2. PARTY SUPREMACY OVER GOVERNMENT Resolution 1.6 proposes a framework for Party Supremacy over Government, including oversight of Government ministries by ZANU-PF departments. This raises serious constitutional questions. Section 2 of our Constitution establishes constitutional supremacy, while section 3 recognises separation of powers, transparency and accountability. Government ministries derive their authority from the Constitution and the law, not from political-party departments. Zimbabwe is a constitutional republic, not a party-state. 3. POLITICAL RESTRICTIONS ON PUBLIC EMPLOYMENT Perhaps the most disturbing proposal is Resolution 1.8, which seeks to make ZANU-PF recommendations a requirement for employment in public institutions. Consider what this could mean for a young Zimbabwean who has spent years studying, graduated with qualifications and is now searching for employment. Must that young person first seek the approval of ZANU-PF before being considered for a public-sector job? What happens to graduates who belong to other political parties, or who choose not to belong to any political party? Our young people already bear the heavy burden of unemployment arising from years of economic mismanagement. They should not face an additional political barrier to employment. Sections 56, 67 and 194 of the Constitution protect equality, political rights and impartial, merit-based public administration. Employment in public institutions must be determined by qualifications, competence and merit—not political affiliation. OUR RESPONSE AS DCP The Defend the Constitution Platform will mobilise young people, recent graduates and other affected citizens to peacefully and lawfully resist any attempt to impose partisan restrictions on public employment. We will work with youth organisations, student bodies, professional associations and concerned citizens to promote awareness of constitutional rights, document discrimination and facilitate access to legal assistance. In consultation with our partners in Sungano yeVanhu – Ubumbano Lomphakathi (The People's Coalition), DCP will also examine appropriate legal action against ZANU-PF and any responsible State institutions where actions taken to implement these resolutions violate the Constitution or the rights of Zimbabweans. Our approach will be peaceful, lawful and firmly grounded in constitutionalism. THE STATE BELONGS TO EVERY ZIMBABWEAN. No citizen should be denied a fair opportunity to serve their country because of their political beliefs, associations or refusal to join the governing party. ZANU-PF may hold political power, but political power does not confer ownership of the State. The Constitution belongs to the people. Any party may govern. The Constitution must prevail. Jameson Z. Timba Convenor, Defend the Constitution Platform (DCP) #DefendTheConstitution #ConstitutionalSupremacy #EqualOpportunity #YouthEmployment #LetThePeopleDecide @LynneStactia @JamesonTimba @SABCNews @SABCNews_Radio @NewsDayZimbabwe @HeraldZimbabwe @ZBCNewsonline @NgarivhumeJ @JobSikhala1 @mutamba_tsitsi @daddyhope @263Chat @NewsHawksLive @NewZimbabweCom

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE SONA 2026: THE TEST MUST BE SONA TO SONA 29 September 2026 President Emmerson Mnangagwa will today deliver the State of the Nation Address and open the Fourth Session of the Tenth Parliament. The constitutional purpose of SONA is not ceremonial. It is an occasion for the President to account for the condition of our country and to set out the Government's legislative programme for the coming parliamentary session. Zimbabweans should therefore listen not only to what will be promised today, but also ask a more important question: What has changed since the last State of the Nation Address? From now on, Government must be assessed SONA to SONA. What was promised? What was delivered? What remains outstanding? How much did it cost? And, most importantly, did the lives of ordinary Zimbabweans improve? Today's address comes after a period in which, in our assessment, Zimbabwe has witnessed disturbing levels of unproductive patronage, increasing concentration of political power and continuing pressure on household living standards. The constitutional architecture of the country has also been fundamentally altered through Constitutional Amendment No. 3. Any further constitutional changes announced today must therefore attract particularly careful public scrutiny. At the same time, there is an important contradiction in the economy that the President must confront. The IMF reports significant progress in macroeconomic stability, including lower inflation and stronger growth. Yet it also reports that Government has again failed to meet the agreed floor for protected social and priority spending. The World Bank similarly acknowledges macroeconomic progress but says that growth has not yet translated into widespread improvements in productive employment or household incomes. It reports that 80% of Zimbabweans work in the informal economy, with median earnings of approximately US$130 per month, while nearly half the population lives below its international poverty line. That is the gap today's SONA must address: the distance between the statistics presented by Government and the lived experience of the citizen. Zimbabweans need to hear how economic stability will reach the kitchen table. Where are the jobs? What is being done about the cost of productive capital? When will hospitals have reliable medicines? When will schools receive the resources already committed to them? How will farmers, manufacturers and small businesses obtain affordable finance? What is the plan for reliable electricity, clean water, functioning sewage systems and decent public transport? When will devolution become a lived constitutional reality rather than an annual promise? And where public money is being spent, what measurable public value are citizens receiving? The legislative programme announced today must also be judged against unfinished constitutional and governance obligations. Parliament cannot simply become a conveyor belt for new legislation while existing constitutional commitments remain inadequately implemented. Zimbabwe does not suffer from a shortage of plans, strategies, visions, conferences and promises. It suffers from a delivery deficit. The test of today's SONA should therefore be measurable. When the President returns to Parliament for the next State of the Nation Address, Zimbabweans should be able to take today's speech, place it beside the next one and ask: What did you promise? What did you deliver? What changed in the life of the citizen? That is the accountability standard we should establish. SONA to SONA. Promise to performance. Policy to the kitchen table. The true state of the nation is ultimately not found in the speech delivered inside Parliament. It is found in the lived condition of the people outside it. Senator Jameson Z. Timba Convenor — Defend the Constitution Platform (DCP) 29 September 2026

TODAY ZIMBABWE MOURNS. ⚫ Wear Black. 🏠 Stay Away. 🙏 Pray. 🕯️ Remember. Today we pause for those who left home expecting to return. Today we stand with their families. Today we say: EVERY ZIMBABWEAN LIFE MATTERS. RIZPAH DAY 28 AUGUST #RizpahDay #Kariba @NewsHawksLive @daddyhope @ZLHRLawyers @ProtectHRDs @BandaMollyn @NgarivhumeJ @OpenParlyZw @OMasaraure @EmmanuelSitima7 @ARTUZ_teachers @mutamba_tsitsi @SoniaMarrion @zimsolidarity01 @daddyhope @263Chat @HStvNews @LynneStactia @MacBelts @NgarivhumeJ @zimsolidarity01 @zpdizw @ProtectHRDs @NewsDayZimbabwe @HeraldZimbabwe

RIZPAH DAY MOMENT OF SILENCE At 2:00 PM on Friday, 28 August RIZPAH DAY We call upon Zimbabwe to fall silent for one minute. At approximately this hour, the Mbuya Nehanda ferry capsized on Lake Kariba, taking with it the lives of our fellow citizens. Wherever you are at home, at work, in the streets, in the fields or in prayer stop for one minute. Let the nation be still. Let us remember the lives lost. Let us stand with the bereaved families. Let us affirm the dignity of every Zimbabwean life. 2:00 PM. ONE NATION. ONE MINUTE OF SILENCE. WEAR BLACK. STAY AWAY. PRAY. REMEMBER. #RizpahDay #Kariba #SunganoYeVanhu @sunganoyevanhu

Today, our National Youth Leader Emmanuel Sitima and Takunda Mhuka are back at Mbare Magistrate Court—this time for trial, not remand. Yes, they're out on bail, but let's not pretend that changes the bigger picture. Sitima, who has led youth struggles from ZINASU to the Defend the Constitution Platform, and Mhuka, expelled from MSU for simply wearing a ZINASU t-shirt, are still being dragged through the courts over charges that feel like a bad joke—throwing flyers that said "No to 2030" and allegedly damaging a window pane valued at US$10. They're out, but they're not free. Every court appearance is a reminder that the state has unlimited resources to pursue young people who dare to speak up, while these two have to keep showing up, keep fighting, and keep their heads up when any normal person would be exhausted. We stand with them not because it's trendy, but because this is the reality of dissent in Zimbabwe today—and we refuse to normalize it. Solidarity, always. ✊🏾🇿🇼 #FreeSitima #FreeMhuka #Zimbabwe #NoTo2030 @namataik @NgarivhumeJ @zimsolidarity01 @zulukingggg @zimsolidarity01 @zpdizw @ProtectHRDs @NewsDayZimbabwe @HeraldZimbabwe @SADC_News @SABCNews @ZBCNewsonline @LynneStactia @advocatemahere @agencygumbo @molokele

WHO WAS RIZPAH? The inspiration for Rizpah Day comes from the biblical story of Rizpah in 2 Samuel 21. Rizpah was a grieving mother who kept vigil over the bodies of the dead. She possessed no army. She occupied no high office. She responded neither with violence nor vengeance. She simply refused to abandon the dead. Her persistent mourning became a powerful moral witness. Eventually, authority could no longer ignore what her vigil represented, and action was taken to restore dignity to the dead. That ancient story speaks powerfully to Zimbabwe today. The people who died on Lake Kariba must not become statistics that briefly occupy our national attention before disappearing from our consciousness. Their lives mattered. Their families matter. The truth matters. Like Rizpah, our response will be peaceful. Our mourning will be our moral witness. On Friday, 28 August, Zimbabwe remembers. ⚫ WEAR BLACK. 🏠 STAY AWAY. 🙏 PRAY. 🕯️ REMEMBER. We will not abandon our dead. #RizpahDay @LynneStactia @amnesty_zim @HStvNews @LynneStactia @MacBelts @OpenParlyZw @Samanyanga04 @zimsolidarity01 @zpdizw @ProtectHRDs @NewsDayZimbabwe @HeraldZimbabwe @SADC_News @SABCNews @ZBCNewsonline @CrimeWatchZW @ibbosnr @MacBelts @NDWGZimbabwe

ZIMBABWE MUST BE ALLOWED TO MOURN The tragedy on Lake Kariba has left families grieving, communities wounded and our nation carrying a burden of sorrow. Behind every life lost was a human being — a mother, father, son, daughter, sister, brother, friend and neighbour. Behind every name is a family whose life has been changed forever. There comes a moment after great national tragedy when a country must stop. Not because life has ended, but because the lives that have ended deserve to be remembered. We therefore call upon Zimbabweans to observe *Friday, 28 August 2026 as RIZPAH DAY* — a National Day of Mourning and Moral Witness for those whose lives were lost in the Kariba ferry tragedy. This will be a peaceful and voluntary national act of mourning and solidarity with the bereaved families, survivors and affected communities. Wherever you are, participate according to your conscience and circumstances. ⚫ WEAR BLACK. 🏠 STAY AWAY. 🙏 PRAY. 🕯️ REMEMBER. Let us mourn peacefully. Let us stand with the bereaved. Let us show through our collective compassion that *every Zimbabwean life matters.* RIZPAH DAY — FRIDAY, 28 AUGUST 2026 #RizpahDay #Kariba @LynneStactia @MacBelts @OpenParlyZw @NgarivhumeJ @zimsolidarity01 @SABCNews @daddyhope @263Chat @HStvNews @amnesty_zim @DubekoSibanda @ercafrica @LynneStactia @weleadteam @zulukingggg @NewZimbabweCom @BBCWorld @Julius_S_Malema @JamesonTimba @Obert @EmmanuelSitim

xitter.cf/i/spaces/1dKrPPXzBpAJX… Join us today !

Tomorrow 3 August 2026 is not a great day for us, as our Chief Facilitator Hon @JobSikhala1 and Mr Bhekimpilo Mbedzi will be appearing at Beitbridge Magistrate Court and Pretoria Magistrate Court respectively. #VictoryIsCertain

PEACEFUL CONSTITUTIONAL ENGAGEMENT OUR COMMITMENT Sungano YeVanhu – Ubumbano Lomphakathi believes in peaceful, lawful and constitutional engagement. We reject violence. We reject intimidation. We reject hatred. Our commitment is to constitutionalism, justice and national unity. Zimbabwe deserves peaceful democratic participation. #LetThePeopleDecide #RestoreConstitutionalism #Peace #Justice #ConstitutionalDemocracy sungano-ubumbano.org/

We continue to stand in Solidarity with our National Youth Leader !