Chairperson of African Union Commission commends the conduct of elections in #Uganda and congratulates President Yoweri Museveni on re-election.
The Chairperson of the African Union Commission, H.E. Mahmoud Ali Youssouf, commends the conduct of the elections in Uganda and congratulates H.E. Yoweri Kaguta Museveni on his re-election with 71.61% of the votes cast during the presidential elections held on 15 January 2026.
The Chairperson @ymahmoudali expresses sincere appreciation to H.E Goodluck Jonathan, former President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria for his sterling leadership of the Joint African Union/; Common Market of Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA)/Inter-Governmental Authority on Development (IGAD) Election Observation Mission to Uganda.
The Chairperson further reiterates the commitment of the African Union Commission to continue to support the promotion of democracy and effective governance in the continent, while applauding the people of Uganda for their commitment to consolidating democratic gains, peace, security, and development.
Read @ https://t.co/AhxQAqbbV7
MPs are hungry, poor, and will not enjoy Christmas: Hwende
• Togarepi calls Hwende to order, says MPs must put people First, Not Be Selfish
Opposition Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC) MP for Kuwadzana, Chalton Hwende, sought to delay debate on the proposed 2026 budget, arguing that legislators' welfare is compromised as they are hungry and likely will not enjoy Christmas.
Hwende proposed halting the debate on the Finance Bill to engage Finance Minister Professor Mthuli Ncube for assistance. He has consistently advocated for benefits from Parliament, including loans for housing.
However, he was called to order by the Government Chief Whip, Pupurai Togarepi, who accused him of attempting to hold the government to ransom.
"Hon. Speaker, you always say that the fate of Members of Parliament is in their own hands. Yesterday, we learned that the Minister was ready for us to begin the actual debate. The intention of the joint caucus was to provide us with an opportunity to address all the issues we have raised throughout the year. Our goal was to convincingly urge the Minister to consider the serious welfare concerns of Members of Parliament," Hwende said.
"Now that the joint caucus has been postponed to next week, after the budget is passed, we are facing a situation where we may be prejudiced. Honestly, Hon. Speaker, as we have previously stated, the situation among the Members of Parliament you lead is dire. There is hunger written all over their faces," he added.
"We are approaching the Christmas holiday, and Members have no means of traveling. We have not been paid our dues. The promise made since the Pre-Budget Seminar was that we would have a joint caucus. It would not be acceptable to enter 2026 without addressing these issues. We have endured enough. If we begin the budget debate and have a joint caucus next week, we will have been compromised. Therefore, we ask for your help and direction, Mr. Speaker, so we can speak to Hon. Professor Ncube to ensure our concerns are addressed."
Togarepi, however, accused Hwende of pursuing personal interests rather than those of the people the MPs represent.
"Mr. Speaker, what Hon. Hwende is suggesting implies that we want to hold the government or the Minister to ransom because he insists that we discuss our concerns before the budget debate, as if we are here to represent ourselves. We came here to represent the people. Having said that, we regularly discuss issues related to MPs," Togarepi stated.
"With all due respect, I must inform you that we have already raised 20 million for coupons that are expected to be paid today. We have also secured 25 million for Hon. Members' allowances," Togarepi continued.
"Yesterday, the Minister informed us that all the CDF would be paid by the end of next week. What more will we discuss in that joint caucus? My concern, Mr. Speaker, is when senior Members of this House suggest we meet before debating the budget. This creates a negative impression that Members of Parliament prioritize their own issues over national interests. This is incorrect. While we have our needs and rights, we can still assert them without putting the people of Zimbabwe at ransom."
Reporting by Kudakwashe Chibvuri
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Regularisation of Licences
•Government has removed eleven (11) Licence requirements by consolidating all Local •Authority fragmented licences into one unitary licence. This eases business for single shops with various business lines such as bakery, butchery, restaurant and takeaway, food factory etc. Previously, food factory licences were being charged as much as $2 300
•Bottle Store Licences have been removed for bottle stores that are part of a retail shop, if the shop has a valid licence.
•Shops doing both retail and wholesale business will now get one licence for both.
Factory and retail licences have been combined into one licence for integrated businesses under one premise to reduce regulatory and compliance costs for business.
•Licence requirements for supermarkets by ZTA have been scrapped from retail shops to tourist designated businesses.
•Hotel, Lodges and other Tourism business licence fees have been reviewed downwards by 50% under the Review of the Tourism and Transport sectors and further capped to a maximum of $500 per business.
Change of Property Use fee has been capped at $1000 from as high as $3500 by some Local Authorities.
•Effluent waste management costs have been reduced from USD$575 to USD$200 annually as businesses already incur costs of emptying septic tanks.
•PRAZ licence fees have been combined across categories into one licence costing between $50-$120, allowing the use of
one licence by all branches of a business line.
•The Liquor Licencing Board has compressed all Liquor Licence Permits regardless of the location of business, whether in the City, Municipality, Town or RDC.
•The Local Authority Financial Services Licence will now be issued as a single annual Licence by the RBZ covering all business activities in the shop,
for a flat fee of $20 from as much as $1 867.
•The Permit to Sale Veterinary Products by the Medical Control Authority of Zimbabwe (MCAZ) has been scrapped because it duplicates and overlaps with the Department of Veterinary Services function.
•These measures are meant to aid in the creation of a conducive economic environment where jobs will be created, productivity improved across all sectors
@MthuliNcube01@ZimTreasury
Ah, here we go again 🙃😂.
You'll have those criticising because its never happened to them...so clearly its WRONG for this to EVER happen to anyone😬.
Then there'll be those criticising because they choose not to do this or they dont have the means to...so he's definitely WRONG to do this 😬.
Either way, it really is a free world, do what makes you happy and all the best @simbatheartisan💪!
I want to apologize to the management Hornbill Bar & Restaurant, Rongai, for the tweets I made saying it's not safe.
I want to urge clients, party goers, to visit club Hornbill, get maimed, killed & thrown in a septic tank because the owner has deep pockets