38-498: Zimbabwe Open University (ZOU) is an open distance education university in Zimbabwe. Established in 1999, ZOU is the only distance education university in the country. Student enrollment at ZOU has been growing steadily from the time of its formation and in terms of enrollment it is the largest university in Zimbabwe. The Zimbabwe Open University has seven faculties under which the academic programmes are conducted. After independence,
76-482: A provincial governor appointed by the President. The provincial governor is assisted by the provincial administrator and representatives of several service ministries. The provinces are further divided into 63 districts.Provinces are constituent political entities of Zimbabwe. Zimbabwe currently has ten provinces, two of which are cities with provincial status. Zimbabwe is a unitary state, and its provinces exercise only
114-429: A total of 19,228 students were enrolled in the university which constituted 46.9% of the total university enrolment in the country. According to 2006 estimates, approximately 20,000 students are enrolled in the university which makes it the largest university in Zimbabwe. According to the website of the university, ZOU's vision is the "VISION To be the university of choice in open and distance learning MISSION Empowering
152-591: Is a multidisciplinary and inter-faculty institution. It offers both degree courses and non-degree courses. The university has six faculties: the Faculty of Science and technology, the Faculty of Arts and Education, the Faculty of Commerce and Law, Faculty of Applied Social Sciences, Faculty Agriculture and Faculty of Information Technology. A total of 24 programmes are offered under these faculties. As of 2006; The Faculty of Education: The Faculty of Science and Technology has four departments: The Faculty of Commerce
190-646: Is appointed by the president and responsible to the House of Assembly. The Minister of State for Presidential Affairs is a non-cabinet ministerial position in the government of Zimbabwe. The incumbent is Didymus Mutasa . The duties of the position have yet to be publicly defined. Parliament consists of the House of Assembly and, since 2005, the Senate , which had previously been abolished in 1990. The House of Assembly has 210 members elected by universal suffrage, including
228-585: Is envisaging the introduction of telelearning/teleteaching methods in its course delivery. ZOU was a partner in the Electronic Distance Training on Sustainability in African Local Governments (EDITOSIA), a project started in 2001 aimed at formulating recommendations for policymakers of the government, training institutions, municipal associations and other agencies regarding promotion of teaching methods for building
266-572: Is exercised by the government. Legislative power is vested in both the government and parliament . The status of Zimbabwean politics has been thrown into question by a 2017 coup . Zimbabwe has been undergoing an economic crisis since the late 1990s. The Zimbabwean Constitution, initially from the Lancaster House Agreement a few months before the 1980 elections , chaired by Lord Carrington , institutionalises majority rule and protection of minority rights. Since independence,
304-609: Is headed by the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Zimbabwe who, like their contemporaries, is appointed by the President on the advice of the Judicial Service Commission. The Constitution has a Bill of Rights containing extensive protection of human rights. The Bill of Rights could not be amended for the first 10 years of independence except by unanimous vote of Parliament. The Supreme Court
342-641: Is need for distance education at university level to upgrade skills and "to provide a continuing education facility for the adult population". Based on these recommendations the Centre for Distance Education (CDE) of the University of Zimbabwe was formed in 1993. In 1996, it became the University College of Distance Education (UCDE) and finally renamed to Zimbabwe Open University (ZOU) on March 1, 1999 by an Act of Parliament . The first Vice-Chancellor
380-570: Is the highest court of order and the final court of appeal. The Chief Justice is the senior judge. Others who sit on the bench of the Supreme Court of Zimbabwe are Justice Paddington Garwe , former Judge-President of the High Court, Wilson Sandura and Vernanda Ziyambi. Luke Malaba , a former justice of the Supreme Court, was appointed acting chief justice on 1 March 2017 following the retirement of Chief Justice Godfrey Chidyausiku . Malaba
418-526: Is the largest faculty. It has three departments: The Faculty of Agriculture has three Department: Faculty of IT and Multimedia Communications has two departments: Faculty of Applied Social Sciences Faculty of Arts, Culture and Heritage Studies: The course delivery methods include print media , compact cassettes , videocassettes , telephone , fax , e-mail , CDs and radio broadcasts. ZOU arranges for its students monthly face-to-face meetings with tutors in its regional centers. The university
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#1732780336939456-703: The Government of Zimbabwe adopted a policy of education for all. To address the need for high skilled manpower the 5 Year National Development Plan (1991–1995) stated: Investment in human resources development is investment in human capital and complements investment in physical and technological innovation. The natural environment can support higher population levels only through technological progress, which requires continued investment in human resources development. Since 1980, GOZ (the Government of Zimbabwe) has aimed at creating an education system that would address
494-626: The Shona and Ndebele has played a large part in Zimbabwe's politics, a consequence of the country's borders defined by its British colonial rulers. This continued after independence in 1980, during the Gukurahundi ethnic cleansing liberation wars in Matabeleland in the 1980s. This led to the political merger of Joshua Nkomo 's Zimbabwe African People's Union (ZAPU) with the ruling Zimbabwe African National Union (ZANU) to form ZANU-PF and
532-566: The CCC 73, with ZANU–PF retaining its rural base and the CCC capturing the urban vote. Voting in the Gutu West constituency was postponed to 11 November after one of the candidates died shortly before the elections. Following the parliamentary election in Gutu West, 65.24% of the constituency seats went to ZANU-PF and 34.76% of the constituency seats went to the CCC. Zimbabwe participates in
570-604: The Constitution has been amended by the government to provide for: The elected government controls senior appointments in the public service, including the military and police , and ensures that appointments at lower levels are made on an equitable basis by the independent Public Service Commission . ZANU-PF leader Robert Mugabe , elected prime minister in 1980, revised the constitution in 1987 to make himself president. President Mugabe's affiliated party won every election from independence on April 18, 1980, until it lost
608-431: The High Court are regional magistrate's courts with civil jurisdiction and magistrate's courts with both civil and criminal jurisdiction over cases involving traditional law and custom. Beginning in 1981, these courts were integrated into the national system. List of chief justices of Zimbabwe: Main articles: Provinces of Zimbabwe , Districts of Zimbabwe Zimbabwe is divided into eight provinces, each administered by
646-471: The Rhodesian government expanded the number of provinces to seven: Manicaland, Matabeleland North and South, Mashonaland North and South, Midlands, and Victoria (today Masvingo).[3] In the 1980s, Mashonaland North and South became three provincesThe youngest provinces, Bulawayo and Harare, were created in 1997. Mnangagwa was re-elected president. The National Assembly has 210 single-member constituencies,
684-609: The Senate consists of 2 seats for each non-metropolitan district of Zimbabwe elected by each provincial assembly of chiefs using SNTV , 1 seat each for the president and deputy president of the National Council of Chiefs and 1 male and 1 female seat for people with disabilities elected on separate ballots using FPTP by an electoral college designated by the National Disability Board. The judiciary
722-532: The Speaker, and the Attorney General , and may serve for a maximum of five years. Under the 2013 constitution , the Senate consists of 80 members, of whom 60 are elected for five-year terms in 6-member constituencies representing one of the 10 provinces, elected based on the votes in the lower house election, using party-list proportional representation , distributed using the hare quota . Additionally
760-523: The ZOU programmes. Graduates from the ZOU are established in almost every sector of the economy of Zimbabwe . 17°47′00″S 31°03′13″E / 17.783221°S 31.053693°E / -17.783221; 31.053693 Government of Zimbabwe The politics of Zimbabwe occurs in a society deeply divided along lines of race, ethnicity, gender and geography. The ZANU–PF party has historically been dominant in Zimbabwe politics. The party, which
798-544: The appointment of Nkomo as vice president . During 2005, with Mugabe's future in question, factionalism within the Shona has increased. In October 2005 it was alleged that members of the ruling ZANU-PF and the opposition MDC had held secret meetings in London and Washington to discuss plans for a new Zimbabwe after Robert Mugabe. On February 6, 2007, Mugabe orchestrated a Cabinet reshuffle, ousting ministers including 5-year veteran Minister of Finance Herbert Murerwa . Since
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#1732780336939836-661: The capacity of African governments to deal with the challenges of local sustainability. ZOU has partnered with the Foundation of Angel of Hope led by Zimbabwe `s First lady to give women a chance to improve their lives through offering free learning to Zimbabwe's disadvantaged women. The programme is intended to cover all of Zimbabwe's provinces to empower women in different life skills. The First lady, Mrs Mnangagwa urged all women, young and old to go back to school in order to benefit their families and communities. The Vice Chancellor of ZOU, Professor Paul Gundani and his team embraced
874-650: The country under the Zimbabwe University Libraries Associations to use each other's facilities. According to Mr Mhlotswa, the Deputy Librarian of the Zimbabwe Open University, the course on agriculture offered by ZOU has contributed significantly to the land reform programme in the country. The industry also praised the university as many of their employees have improved performance after undergoing
912-471: The defeat of the constitutional referendum in 2000, politics in Zimbabwe has been marked by a move from the norms of democratic governance , such as democratic elections, the independence of the judiciary, the rule of law, freedom from racial discrimination, the existence of independent media, civil society and academia. Recent years have seen widespread violations of human rights . Elections have been marked by political violence and intimidation, along with
950-492: The devolution of governmental powers and responsibilities where appropriate, though Zimbabwean opposition parties argue that the central government has yet to comply.[2] With the establishment of Company rule in Rhodesia in the 1890s, the country was divided into two provinces: Matabeleland in the west and Mashonaland in the east. Under British colonial rule as Southern Rhodesia, the colony was divided into five provinces. Later,
988-474: The executive, the legislative and the judicial branches, with the President as the head of the executive branch, the Prime Minister the head of the legislative branch and the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Zimbabwe the head of the judicial branch. Under the present Zimbabwean Constitution, the President's powers can be grouped roughly into the following categories: Under Zimbabwe's Constitution,
1026-451: The opposition are routinely arrested and harassed, with some subjected to torture or sentenced to jail. The legal system has come under increasing threat. The MDC has repeatedly attempted to use the legal system to challenge the ruling ZANU-PF, but the rulings, often in favour of the MDC, have not been taken into account by the police. Political power in Zimbabwe is split between three branches,
1064-666: The parliamentary elections in March 2008 to the Movement for Democratic Change . In some quarters corruption and rigging elections have been alleged. In particular the elections of 1990 were nationally and internationally condemned as being rigged, with the second-placed party, Edgar Tekere 's Zimbabwe Unity Movement, winning only 20% of the vote. Presidential elections were held in 2002 amid allegations of vote-rigging, intimidation, and fraud , and again in March 2008. Ethnic rivalry between
1102-580: The politicisation of the judiciary, military , police force and public services. Statements by the President and government politicians have referred to a state of war, or Chimurenga , against the opposition political parties, in particular the Movement for Democratic Change – Tsvangirai (MDC-T). Newspapers not aligned with the government have been closed down and members of the judiciary have been threatened and/or arrested. Repressive laws aimed at preventing freedoms of speech, assembly and association have been implemented and subjectively enforced. Members of
1140-554: The powers that the central government chooses to delegate. Provinces are divided into districts, which are divided into wards. The Constitution of Zimbabwe delineates provincial governance and powers. After constitutional amendments in 1988, provinces were administered by a governor directly appointed by the President of Zimbabwe.[1] Since the 2013 constitutional changes, there are technically no longer provincial governors, though in practice they remain in place as Ministers of State for Provincial Affairs. The 2013 Constitution also calls for
1178-436: The president is the head of state, government and commander-in-chief of the defense forces, elected by popular majority vote. Prior to 2013, the president was elected for a 6-year term with no term limits. The new constitution approved in the 2013 constitutional referendum limits the president to two 5-year terms, but this does not take effect retrospectively ( Robert Mugabe had held the office from 1987 to 2017). The Cabinet
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1216-463: The programme and were ready to offer their guidance to the benefiting women. The library of the university was fundamental in the success of ZOU. The libraries consist of a branch in each of the regional centers handled by two people. These libraries are very popular. The administration of all the libraries in different regional centers are centralized to maintain uniformity and easy coordination. The library of ZOU has agreement with other universities in
1254-476: The results of which are shown below. The remaining 70 seats comprises 60 seats which are reserved for women, six seats in each province, and 10 seats for youth, one seat in each province, which are filled based on the votes in the single-member constituencies using party-list proportional representation, distributed using the largest remainder method and the Hare quota. On election day itself ZANU–PF won 136 seats and
1292-625: The socio-economic needs of the country. The University of Zimbabwe , which was the single university in the country at that time, could not cope with the demand for university education. Two commissions were established: the Williams Commission (1981) and the Zimbabwe Open University Feasibility Study (1986). In July 1994, a committee was formed to investigate the development of university distance education. The commission recommended that there
1330-512: The world through high quality open and distance learning enabled by technology 2018". The core ideology of the university is "to develop a best-practice enterprise-culture-based open and distance learning university focused on influencing development and change". ZOU's website states its mission is "to empower people through life long learning, thereby enabling them to realise their full potential in an affordable and flexible manner while executing their various endeavours". The Zimbabwe Open University
1368-414: Was Professor Peter Dzvimbo . Below is a table showing student enrolment in the Zimbabwe Open University from 1999 to 2017: The year 2001 marked the increase of the enrollment figures to 23,161. It was because Commerce degrees were introduced that year. There was a decline in student enrollment in 2002 because some found independent learning difficult and many students faced economic difficulties. In 2003,
1406-455: Was led by Robert Mugabe from 1980 to 2017, has used the powers of the state to intimidate, imprison and otherwise hobble political opposition in Zimbabwe, as well as use state funds and state media to advance the interests of the party. Per the 2013 Constitution , Zimbabwe is a full presidential republic , whereby the President is the head of state and government . Executive power
1444-470: Was promoted to chief justice on 28 March. The legal system is based on Roman-Dutch law with South African influences. A five-member Supreme Court, headed by the Chief-Justice has original jurisdiction over alleged violations of fundamental rights guaranteed in the constitution and appellate jurisdiction over other matters. There is a High Court consisting of general and appellate divisions. Below
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