State Media|A MAN from Gwanda has appeared in court for assaulting his wife and keeping her locked up in a house for two days following a misunderstanding over their maid.
Thuso Nare (29) of Mapate Village was convicted on his own plea of guilty to physical abuse but denied kidnapping his wife, Ms Pentece Moyo. He was however, also convicted of kidnapping due to overwhelming evidence.
Gwanda magistrate, Miss Lerato Nyathi, fined Nare $100 or two months in prison in case of default.
In addition she sentenced him to six months imprisonment which was wholly suspended on condition that he does not commit a similar offence within the next three years.
Prosecuting, Miss Ethel Mahachi said: “On 2 July at around 8PM, Ms Moyo was at home with her husband when they had a misunderstanding over the duties of their maid who looks after their four-month-old baby. As a result Nare punched and kicked his wife several times and also whipped her all over the body. “In the early hours of the following morning, Nare force-marched Ms Moyo to his sister’s homestead in a neighbouring village where he kept her locked up for two days until she was rescued by members of the neighbourhood watch committee. The matter was reported to the police resulting in Nare’s arrest while Ms Moyo was referred to Manama Hospital for treatment,” she said.
In his defence, Nare denied kidnapping his wife, saying she went to his sister’s homestead and stayed there willingly. Nare said he followed his wife to his sister’s homestead to make peace with her and he was amazed when he was approached by members of the neighbourhood watch committee claiming that he was under arrest for kidnapping his wife.
Organisers of the annual Gwanda International Gospel Festival have unveiled a star-studded line-up for the event to be held this weekend.
Swaziland’s Timothy Ncandweni and Shongwe with his Khuphuka Saved group will headline the fest alongside Sipho Makhabene, Takesure Zamar, Vocal Ex, Mathias Mhere and Indosakusa: The Morning Star.
The festival, now in its fifth edition, will be held at its usual venue, Phelandaba Stadium from tomorrow until Sunday.
Denzel the Pianist from Cape Town, Mkhululi Bhebhe, Joyful Praise from Gweru, Hybrid Sounds from Gwanda and Harvest Music Super Choir from Bulawayo will make up the rest of entertainers.
The free show that is bankrolled by South Africa-based businessman Justice Maphosa’s Big Time Strategic Group, is a thanksgiving to God by the mogul.
Big Time Strategic Group spokesperson Mthokozisi Dube said the festival will run under the theme: “God is speaking, are you listening”.
“The Gwanda gospel festival is back and all is set for the showcase. We have a different line-up this year as we have Timothy Ncandweni and Shongwe from Swaziland who people of Gwanda love. This is the first time that we’re bringing a foreign act that isn’t South African,” Dube said.
He said by hosting the festival, they want people from all walks of life to meet and worship.
“The festival should be an alter where Zimbabweans can go once a year to seek God.
“The nation will also get direction from God’s word. Zimbabwe finds itself in a difficult time and it’ll only take the voice of God to direct it out of it,” said Dube.
Meanwhile, a visit to the venue yesterday showed that it was all systems go as work on the stage has been completed.
A resident, Veronica Nyathi said she was looking forward to attending the gospel show.
‘‘I’m looking forward to attending the gospel show this year as I have done for the past four years,” she said.
Another resident, Isaac Moyo said holding the show in the mining town was a confirmation that Gwanda town, though small, was getting recognition.
Last year, SA’s Dr Tumi, Deborah Fraser and Thina Zungu joined locals Zamar, Mhere, Indosakusa and Vocal Ex to entertain gospel music lovers who attended the show.
Zimbabwe is set to have a new currency next month, the state owned broadcaster has reported.
A member of the newly appointed monetary policy committee Eddie Cross has revealed that the new currency will be introduced next month (November) in a move set to curb cash shortages in the country, the report says.
The exiled former state spin doctor Prof Jonthan Moyo described the development saying, “It’s striking not only that this is the third time “a new currency” is introduced this year but also that the announcement has been made by Eddie Cross, a third force voice.”
Mr Cross, who defected from the MDC party, described last week’s events which saw the exchange rate shooting through the roof as unfortunate.
He commended President Mnangagwa for taking a bold decision to freeze accounts of companies suspected of fueling the instability of exchange rates, saying what is needed now is to act on such economic saboteurs.
He added that the new approach where-by command agriculture will be facilitated through banks is professional and will produce good results although there is need to expedite the process in view of the anticipated early rainfall.
Meanwhile, Mr Cross commended President Mnangagwa’s State of the Nation Address delivered on Tuesday, for tackling real issues affecting the ordinary person as well as economic growth.
A ZIMBABWE Consolidated Diamond Company (ZCDC) security guard yesterday appeared in court on allegations of money laundering after he allegedly amassed wealth using money from stolen diamonds.
Tobias Mukundu, who is being jointly charged with his wife Barbra Shariwa, appeared before Harare magistrate Mrs Barbra Mateko. Mrs Mateko deferred the matter to October 14 for trial.
Prosecutor Mr Peter Kachirika alleged that Mukundu is employed by the ZCDC earning a net salary of $573 per month while his wife is not employed.
Mr Kachirika said on December 21 last year, Detectives from CID Homicide arrested Mukundu in connection with theft of diamonds case which occurred at the company’s Msasa offices.
“During the course of the investigation, detectives visited Mukundu and Shariwa’s home. They led detective to the recovery of US$20 000 covered in the flower bed at their residential place,” Kachirika said.
The State alleges that the money and the properties acquired by the couple was not legitimately earned.
Mr Kachirika told the court that when Daka was arrested in connection with diamonds theft at the company, he was found in possession of US$15 000 cash.
State Media|The Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) has brought back cash-out transactions but capped it at $100 to ensure abuses of mobile money platforms are minimised.
The development comes after the RBZ had banned cash-in, cash-out and cash-back transactions on Monday.
It is expected that illegal foreign currency dealers would be discouraged by the move as they will be hit hard by transacting costs since it would take over two transactions to exchange US$10 for electronic money.
But sceptics say the decision to unban cash-out transactions will see enterprising mobile money agents using the cash-in system to circumvent the new measures.
RBZ Governor Dr John Mangudya yesterday said payment systems play an important role of providing an avenue to facilitate economic activities in the country.
“As such, the Reserve Bank continues to promote digital financial services which contribute to financial inclusion and stability. Cognisance of that, enhanced monitoring mechanisms have been put in place by both the Reserve Bank and Payment System Providers to mitigate against abuse of payment systems and ensure abusers are brought to book.
“To this end, Payment System Providers and Agents are hereby advised that the cash-out facility is now capped at $100 per transaction with immediate effect,” he said.
Dr Mangudya said existing operational cash-in and cash-out limits remain in place, adding that the RBZ will be injecting cash into the economy “without changing money supply”.
“In this regard, banks will exchange existing RTGS balances for cash thus maintaining the monetary base unchanged.
“Financial institutions and agents are required to strictly adhere to the Know-Your Customer (KYC)and Customer Due Diligence (CDD) principles for all their customers at all times and ensure that there is no abuse of the payment systems,” said Dr Mangudya.
The RBZ’s directive on cash-in, cash-out and cash-back facilities, saw the forex rate sliding to US$1:$14 by yesterday from a high of US$1:$26 a fortnight ago.
The directive was also meant to address the challenge of individuals who were selling cash for as high as 60 percent.
While the ban on cash-in, cash-out and cash-back facilities had brought order on the market, it created a new crisis as commuters struggled to access cash for bus fare.
This saw commuter operators charging almost double the fare that was paid for in cash as they claimed that service stations were demanding cash payment for fuel.
National Business Council of Zimbabwe (NBCZ) president Mr Langton Mabhanga hailed the RBZ for the “swift response to public outcry and called on the central bank to punish EcoCash agents abusing the system.
“Capping cash-out at $100 and increasing cash supply to banks hedged by the existing RTGS balances will effectively increase cash in circulation. This will protect the transacting public who will be able to access cash.
“This will eclipse price skimming by the premium vultures and bring sanity in the financial services sector,” he said.
Mr Mabhanga said there was a need to ensure supermarkets and other businesses do not supply money to those involved in selling cash as has been the case in the past.
ZimLive|The family of liberation icon Joshua Nkomo says it is not ruling out exhuming his body from the National Heroes Acre in Harare for reburial at his homestead in Kezi, Matabeleland South.
Nkomo’s son, Sibangilizwe, spoke after former President Robert Mugabe was buried at his rural village in Kutama last week. His family said he left specific instructions that he did not wish to be buried at the hilltop shrine in Harare where Nkomo and many other veterans of the 1970s guerrilla war for independence are buried.
“I actually refused that he be buried at the Heroes Acre because he had told me he wanted to be buried at his homestead. I failed to achieve this because most probably I didn’t have as much power as Grace Mugabe,” Nkomo, one of the former vice president’s two surviving children, is quoted as saying by The Daily News.
Nkomo died in 1999. When his widow Johanna died in 2003, she too was buried at the Heroes Acre next to her husband after being declared a national hero.
“We still have that wish to bury him next to his parents as he wanted,” Sibangilizwe said. “The nation must understand that should we decide as a family to remove his remains from the Heroes Acre, it will be because we are following his wishes.”
Sibangilizwe said any decision to exhume the former vice president’s body would also be extended to his wife.
“They went through thick and thin together, I don’t see a scenario where we exhume one and leave the other,” he said.
A decision on exhumation and reburial would also require the approval of Thandiwe, Nkomo’s other surviving child, but will likely be fiercely resisted by President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s government.
Mugabe’s decision to snub the Heroes Acre stunned the government which is reported to have tried to use strong arm tactics to see him buried at the shrine.
The Heroes Acre is diminished as a burial site for national heroes after Mugabe’s snub, say political analysts.
Exiled former minister and political scientist Professor Jonathan Moyo, writing on Twitter, said the Heroes Acre was now “soiled and confirmed as just a Zanu PF cemetery and thus permanently discredited.”
State Media|BULAWAYO councillors yesterday called for the suspension of Cowdray Park projects after the local authority’s management channelled all devolution funds to the suburb.
During the full council meeting yesterday, MDC-Alliance councillors said while they appreciate that Ward 28, covering Cowdray Park was the biggest and the least developed in the city, it was unfair for all devolution funds amounting to more than $1,1 million to be channelled to the ward.
According to the latest council minutes, the Director of Housing and Community Services reported last month that the department was seeking to use devolution funds for Cowdray Park projects.
The funds were requested to buy materials for Vulindlela Primary and Sizalendaba Secondary Schools in Cowdray Park after budgeted funds were exhausted due to inflation.
Councillors said the development was a political statement to make it seem as if they were doing nothing in their wards while Ward 28 councillor Kidwell Mujuru, who is the only Zanu-PF councillor was working.
“As for devolution funds we expect them to be disbursed equally among all wards. It’s not fair for the funds to be channelled to one ward yet we have 29 wards in the city.
“Maybe other councillors are happy with the arrangement but personally I’m not happy at all. Residents want to see progress in our wards and we have outstanding projects that need funding,” said Ward 22 Councillor Rodney Jele.
Ward 4 Councillor Silas Chigora concurred. “We appreciate the fact that Cowdray Park is a big suburb and is lagging behind in terms of development but to give the ward all the money is unfair. It already has council schools unlike other wards and as we speak there are a number of projects going on in Cowdray Park, which include the construction of a clinic, school, bridge and road rehabilitation.
“Let’s have two projects running in Cowdray Park and at least one in each of the remaining wards. That way we have development in the whole city,” said Cllr Chigora.
He said his ward has no clinic, which is an important facility for the people in the area.
Ward 19 Councillor Alderman Clayton Zana accused council management of bypassing councillors in the disbursement of the devolution funds.
“Councillors should have received a report that devolution funds have been availed so that we take part in deciding how that money should be spent. We should have a say.
“It’s unfair to prioritise Cowdray Park when most projects were put on hold because of lack of funds. Let’s complete projects we have already started before moving to new ones,” said Cllr Zana.
Cllr Mujuru supported the decision by council management saying Cowdray Park was the least developed area in the city.
“I’m actually thankful to council management. Cowdray Park is the least developed ward in the city and it deserves to be funded so that it has adequate social facilities to cater for residents.
“There is no clinic in the ward and children in Cowdray Park are walking long distances to school,” said Cllr Mujuru.
By Dorrothy Moyo| Equatorial Guinea warned him on touching Mrs Grace Mugabe, but within days of President Robert Mugabe’s burial, Emmerson Mnangagwa has grabbed Gushungo farmlands in Mazowe.
This was revealed in a government memo. The notice says the late head of state’s properties in the gold rich Mash Central areas, will be dished out to miners, not even farmers – The development is a humiliating slap in the face of Grace Mugabe whose orphanage was encroached by miners soon after the Nov 2017 coup that removed her husband and she has been in legal fights with them for over 2 years to date.
During the last 25 days, Mnangagwa repeatedly threw overtures to Mrs Mugabe in exchange for her husband’s body, but that battle was lost when she and family members defied him chosing to lay the 95 year old leader to rest at the family village home in Zvimba.
The government notice reads in full:
All miners who used to hold mining titles (claims) in the above-named farms are invited to report to the Mashonaland Central provincial mining office in Bindura and re-inspect them as soon as possible.
We are extending this grace period for 60 days with effect from September 19, 2019, beyond which we will assume all those who hold such interests would have restored them.
THE ruling Zanu-PF party has bought state-of-the-art mining Gold Carbon-in-pulp (gold CIP) equipment worth about $2,8 million to improve gold returns in mining operations run by youths in all the provinces.
Addressing an extraordinary Zanu-PF Midlands Provincial Coordinating Committee meeting over the weekend, the party’s secretary for Youth Affairs Pupurai Togarepi said in support of coordinated mining activities, each province was going to get gold CIP equipment.
Togarepi, who is also a Politburo member, said it was high time that the youths took economic enablers like mining and farming seriously for their own benefit and that of the country at large.
“As Youth League, we have a lot of programmes for our youths. These economic enablers are aimed at working hand in glove with the Cde Mnangagwa-led Government, which is putting in place mechanism to grow this economy. As such, we are supporting youths in mining with hummer mills and we have bought 10 gold CIP equipment at a cost of $2,8 million,” he said.
“A miner who uses gold CIP technology gets more than 70 percent of gold than the one who doesn’t. The machines for all provinces are ready for collection. We got these machines through the assistance of Cde Mnangagwa.”State media
CAPS UNITED were the biggest winners of a bumper midweek Castle Lager Premiership programme as the Green Machine went three points clear of the chasing pack at the top of the table.
Their main rivals, overnight leaders Chicken Inn, champions FC Platinum and dark horses ZPC Kariba, all dropped points yesterday. The Gamecocks crashed to a 0-2 derby defeat at the hands of a resurgent Highlanders, with Prince Dube scoring for the fourth straight game, while Brian Banda grabbed the other goal.
FC Platinum were frustrated at home in a goalless draw against TelOne at Mandava, while ZPC Kariba crashed to a 0-1 defeat at Ngezi Platinum Stars whose new coach, Rodwell Dhlakama, has won his first two games in charge.
Makepekepe coach Darlington Dodo praised his men’s never-say-die spirit as they rallied from behind to grab a last-gasp winner at the National Sports Stadium yesterday.
After having fallen behind to a penalty converted by Timothy January, the spot kick given despite a clear offside in the build-up to the Triangle attack, CAPS United refused to throw in the towel.
And Dodo’s master-stroke, bringing in the excellent Ronald ‘’Rooney’’ Chitiyo and the lively Kelvin Ndebele after the break, turned the game on its head.
Man-of-the-match Chitiyo headed home the equaliser before giant defender Godwin Goriyati slid home the late, late winner.
“Good win, good game but I think we had some grey areas, especially in the first-half where I think we didn’t apply ourselves very well,’’ said Dodo.State media
By Dorrothy Moyo| Within days of President Robert Mugabe’s burial, Emmerson Mnangagwa has grabbed Gushungo farmlands in Mazowe.
This was revealed in a government memo. The notice says the late head of state’s properties in the gold rich Mash Central areas, will be dished out to miners, not even farmers – The development is a humiliating slap in the face of Grace Mugabe whose orphanage was encroached by miners soon after the Nov 2017 coup that removed her husband and she has been in legal fights with them for over 2 years to date.
During the last 25 days, Mnangagwa repeatedly threw overtures to Mrs Mugabe in exchange for her husband’s body, but that battle was lost when she and family members defied him chosing to lay the 95 year old leader to rest at the family village home in Zvimba.
The government notice reads in full:
All miners who used to hold mining titles (claims) in the above-named farms are invited to report to the Mashonaland Central provincial mining office in Bindura and re-inspect them as soon as possible.
We are extending this grace period for 60 days with effect from September 19, 2019, beyond which we will assume all those who hold such interests would have restored them.
THE Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) has given the green light for cash-out transactions on mobile money platforms, but capped it at $100 to minimise abuse.
This comes after the central bank had banned cash-in, cash-out and cash-back transactions on Monday, triggering a market reaction including frantic court action from a giant telecommunications company. RBZ Governor Dr John Mangudya yesterday said payment systems facilitate economic activities in the country.
“As such, the Reserve Bank continues to promote digital financial services which contribute to financial inclusion and stability. Cognisance of that, enhanced monitoring mechanisms have been put in place by both the Reserve Bank and payment system providers to mitigate against abuse of payment systems and ensure abusers are brought to book.
“To this end, payment system providers and agents are hereby advised that the cash-out facility is now capped at $100 per transaction with immediate effect,” he said.State media
GOVERNMENT will not tolerate acts of economic sabotage as it continues with initiatives to grow the economy as enunciated in Vision 2030 and the Transitional Stabilisation Programme, Emmerson Mnangagwa said yesterday.
Delivering his second State of the Nation Address since winning last year’s elections during the official opening of the Second Session of the Ninth Parliament in Harare, Mnangagwa said the fight against corruption would be deepened until the vice was gotten rid of in society.
“My Government continues to take bold and decisive steps to open up and grow the economy for the benefit of all our people,” he said.
“The road map articulated in our Vision 2030, with the TSP as the key building block, is being systematically pursued. We are reforming our economy, we are reforming political space, and the very fabric of our society.
“I am encouraged by the nation’s positive response to the currency reforms which we have embarked on. Government is equally pleased with the relative stability of the exchange rate over the past eight weeks.”
However, the President said, last week’s events of exchange rate manipulation amount to economic sabotage and would not be tolerated. “We all need to adhere to the rule of law and foster discipline at all levels.
We are determined to consolidate digital financial services which are contributing to the creation of financial inclusion by way of delivering banking services to previously unbanked and vulnerable groups of our population,” said Mnangagwa. – State media
A MAN from Gwanda has appeared in court for assaulting his wife and keeping her locked up in a house for two days following a misunderstanding over their maid.
Thuso Nare (29) of Mapate Village was convicted on his own plea of guilty to physical abuse but denied kidnapping his wife, Ms Pentece Moyo. He was however, also convicted of kidnapping due to overwhelming evidence.
Gwanda magistrate, Miss Lerato Nyathi, fined Nare $100 or two months in prison in case of default. In addition she sentenced him to six months imprisonment which was wholly suspended on condition that he does not commit a similar offence within the next three years.
Prosecuting, Miss Ethel Mahachi said: “On 2 July at around 8PM, Ms Moyo was at home with her husband when they had a misunderstanding over the duties of their maid who looks after their four-month-old baby.
As a result Nare punched and kicked his wife several times and also whipped her all over the body. “In the early hours of the following morning, Nare force-marched Ms Moyo to his sister’s homestead in a neighbouring village where he kept her locked up for two days until she was rescued by members of the neighbourhood watch committee. The matter was reported to the police resulting in Nare’s arrest while Ms Moyo was referred to Manama Hospital for treatment,” she said.State media
By A Correspondent| On Saturday, the whole of Zimbabwe was made to believe that former President Robert Mugabe’s corpse is inside the expensive casket, sealed and buried in broad daylight and filmed at the family homestead in Zvimba.
But “(Zvimba) chiefs are buried in caves and the burial is secretly conducted at night,” Mugabe’s nephew Dominic Matibiri told AFP, standing outside his late uncle’s rural house.
‘Not just a president’
A prominent Zimbabwean traditional healer, Benjamin Burombo Jnr, detailed the cultural beliefs and superstition surrounding the deaths and funerals of chiefs.
“When a chief such as Mugabe dies, he is not a person that can be buried at Heroes Acre, that is forbidden. He should be buried in a cave,” Burombo told AFP.
“Mugabe was not just a president, but he was the embodiment of the spirit of Kaguvi,” he added, referring to one of Zimbabwe’s revered spirit mediums and pre-colonial nationalist leader.
When a chief died, often his body “would be dried”, his teeth “extracted” and his fingernails and toenails “ripped off”, Burombo said.
He said the body would then be wrapped in skin hides before burial, and could even be swapped with a token such as a goat’s head to be buried instead.
“You can build that monument, but it doesn’t mean that is where the remains of Mugabe will be buried… it’s just for people to continue remembering him.”
These statements were published on the 20th September and a day later, Emmerson Mnangagwa’s administration suddenly moved to seize the late president’s farm properties in Mazowe. READ MORE ON IT HERE
A 34-YEAR-OLD Bindura man has been arrested on charges of killing his wife’s alleged boyfriend with a hoe.
Paradzai Parafini of Showground Compound was not asked to plead when he appeared before Bindura magistrate Ruramai Chitumbura, who remanded him in custody to October 10.
The State alleges that on August 1 at around 11pm, Parafini received information that his wife was seen coming out of the now-deceased, Arineshito Zhuwawo Janhi’s bedroom in a suspected infidelity affair.
He teamed up with his friend, who is still at large, and allegedly stormed Janhi’s homestead armed with a hoe.
The duo allegedly broke into the deceased’s house and assaulted him, killing him on the spot.
Tariro Janhi represented the State.
In another case, a Glendale man, Subbert Gorerino was slapped with a five-year jail term by Concession magistrate Ruth Moyo for cultivating 21 mbanje plants in his garden.
One year of the sentence was suspended on condition of good behaviour.
Prosecutor Kumbirai Nyamvura said the convict was arrested on September 9 after a tip-off.Newsday
A man from Gwanda has appeared in court for assaulting his wife and keeping her locked up in a house for two days following a misunderstanding over their maid.
Thuso Nare (29) of Mapate Village was convicted on his own plea of guilty to physical abuse but denied kidnapping his wife, Ms Pentece Moyo. He was however, also convicted of kidnapping due to overwhelming evidence.
Gwanda magistrate, Miss Lerato Nyathi, fined Nare $100 or two months in prison in case of default.
In addition she sentenced him to six months imprisonment which was wholly suspended on condition that he does not commit a similar offence within the next three years.
Prosecuting, Miss Ethel Mahachi said: “On 2 July at around 8PM, Ms Moyo was at home with her husband when they had a misunderstanding over the duties of their maid who looks after their four-month-old baby. As a result Nare punched and kicked his wife several times and also whipped her all over the body. “In the early hours of the following morning, Nare force-marched Ms Moyo to his sister’s homestead in a neighbouring village where he kept her locked up for two days until she was rescued by members of the neighbourhood watch committee. The matter was reported to the police resulting in Nare’s arrest while Ms Moyo was referred to Manama Hospital for treatment,” she said.
In his defence, Nare denied kidnapping his wife, saying she went to his sister’s homestead and stayed there willingly. Nare said he followed his wife to his sister’s homestead to make peace with her and he was amazed when he was approached by members of the neighbourhood watch committee claiming that he was under arrest for kidnapping his wife.- state media
Residents of Southerton are baying for Harare Mayor Councillor Herbert Gomba’s blood following his utterances over change of land use for a recreational park into residential stands.
They are calling for his resignation, citing gross incompetence and dereliction of duty.
Clr Gomba infuriated the residents after being asked for a comment on the pegged stands on a recreational park long Baxley Circle in Southerton, and showed his support, insisting residents should allow the future to take its course as the site was reserved for future plans.
The comments invited the wrath of residents and demanded the mayor to resign, insisting his utterances were not expected from a public officer, hence was not fit for the office.
“Those areas were left by the then planners for future use. They are open in order to accommodate future plans. This is why you see dualisation being done because land was left open in anticipation of the need to accommodate future growth. There is nothing criminal about that.
“It is called urban planning. We are now in the future,” said Clr Gomba.
Zimbabwe Combined Residents Association (ZICORA) president Mr McSteven Nyabvure expressed displeasure over the Clr Gomba’ s utterances, saying his comments portrayed him as unfit to represent the public as he does not consider will of the people.
“We are against the decision by the council to develop residential stands on a space which was (meant) for recreational purposes. Southerton is an industrial hub which requires more breathing space to accommodate gases from industries. As residents, we thought the mayor would listen to us and implement decisions based on the merit of the people’s concerns,” said Mr Nyabvure.
“The mayor is not fit for the office, he should resign and hand over the powers to competent people who do not ignore the will of the majority,” he said.
Zanu-PF shadow legislator for Southerton Constituency Cde Andrew Makahamadze described Clr Gomba as an incompetent person, calling on him to step down, adding his comments does not depict him as a public officer. He said Clr Gomba should possess capabilities of knowing the differences between high, medium and low-density and development a mechanism to implement policies based on the structure of each area. “The mayor should be an expert in terms of urban set-up, he must desist from congesting the already burned sewer and water reticulation. Southerton is different from Glen Norah or other high density suburbs, there is more congestion on infrastructure,” said Cde Makahamadze.
“We want the Zimbabwe Anti-corruption Commission to investigate this to check whether prospective beneficiaries are on a council waiting list. I’m sensing corruption on this issue,” he said.
Another concerned citizen Mrs Linley Carhill described Clr Gomba’s comments as evidence of someone out of his mind.
“The mayor is seriously losing his mind, ‘we are in the future!’ No, we are not, we have gone backwards to the stone age. My maid has to buy water and get it delivered to my house, it used to come through a sophisticated pipe system before, and the roads are broken and non-existent. There are no street lights, I might as well move to a rural area, we have not progressed, we have regressed. What does the future look like with sewage running down the road, with disease and squalor all around us, seriously he needs to wake up,” said Mrs Carhill.
The Office of the President and Cabinet in a letter dated December 14, 2018 advised the Secretary for Local Government, Public Works and National Housing to investigate the issue.
“I note from the copy of objection letter that Mr Jack raised a number of pertinent issues relating to the subject matter.
“As the office of the Minister of State for Provincial Affairs in Harare Metropolitan Province we wish to kindly request you, sir, to urgently investigate and furnish us with a comprehensive report on the matter,” reads part of the letter. – state media
Two Zvishavane(Emmerson Mnangagwa’s small home village) men who gang-raped a 51-year-old woman who had her nine-month-old grandchild strapped on her back and brutally murdered her before taking turns to have sex with the corpse, have been sentenced to death by hanging.
The villagers, the court heard, threw the body down a disused mine shaft together with the child crying and still strapped to the body’s back.
Givemore Mutumba (25) and Tatenda Ngwenya (22) both of Chief Mazvihwa’s area, were convicted of murder with constructive intent by Bulawyo High Court judge Justice Maxwell Takuva on Circuit in Gweru. Passing sentence, Justice Takuva said the duo’s level of cruelty was shocking.
He said the murder was committed in aggravating circumstances and therefore death sentence was the only appropriate punishment.
He said it was shocking that Ngwenya and Mutumba even raped the corpse and thereafter threw the body in a disused mine shaft with the baby still strapped to the back of the body.
“You committed a heinous crime in a horrific manner, your level of cruelty is shocking as you acted with untold brutality.
“The murder was brutal, callous and committed on an innocent elderly woman out of greed and not need. You decided to satisfy your sexual needs on an innocent woman. There was some premeditation and you threw her body down a seven-metre deep shaft while her grandchild was still strapped on her back,” said Justice Takuva.
“Your degree of cruelty in this murder is shocking and such people should not be allowed back in society. The courts have a duty to protect the sanctity of life because this kind of conduct cannot be tolerated. You are both hereby found guilty of murder with constructive intent and you are both sentenced to death by hanging.”
For the State, Mr Samuel Pedzisayi told the court that on December 21, 2017, Ngwenya and Mutumba hatched a plan to rob the deceased of her property. He said the duo proceeded to her homestead armed with a machete and found her preparing to retire to bed around 8:30PM.
At the homestead and in the kitchen, the court heard, were the deceased’s four other grandchildren.
“The accused persons threw stones into the hut. The deceased heard her grandchildren’s cries of help and ran to the kitchen where she blocked the door from opening with her body,” said Mr Pedzisayi.
He said Ngwenya inserted a machete through an opening and forced open the door. Mr Pedzisayi said the woman and her grandchildren escaped to a neighbour’s homestead.
“The deceased decided to go back to her homestead the same night and she had her nine-month old grandchild strapped to her back. Ngwenya and Mutumba attacked her with a machete and dragged her to a nearby bush before ransacking her home,” he said.
Mr Pedzisayi said acting in common purpose the two accused persons took turns to rape her before and after she died while her grandchild was still strapped to her back.
“They dragged the lifeless body which still had the child strapped to its back and threw it in a seven-metre deep disused mine shaft. The following day around 2AM — a villager heard the cries of the baby from the shaft and retrieved the body of the deceased,” he said.
Mr Pedzisayi said the deceased’s body had multiple bruises on the face and neck, a deep cut on the left side of the forehead and semen on the private parts.
The matter was reported to the police, leading to the arrest of Ngwenya and Mutumba. – state media
A professional footballer for French Ligue 1 side Nice, has been sacked by the club after he admitted to stealing a teammate’s watch in the dressing room.
Lamine Diaby-Fadiga a Danish international stole teammate Kasper Dolsberg’s watch on the 16th of September in the Nice dressing room, an incident which was reported to the police leading to the former’s arrest.
Nice released a statement on their website confirming they have parted ways with the player.
“Following the theft of Kasper Dolberg’s watch from the changing room, and the subsequent admission of the player, the club decided to cancel its contract with the forward with immediate effect.
“Above and beyond all sporting and financial consideration, Nice cannot and will not accept such behaviour that betrays the confidence that unites all the club’s employees and all the members of the Rouge et Noir [Red and Black] family.” read the statement.Soccer 24
Government has spent over $2,5 billion on infrastructure projects, which are key enablers to the achievement of targets set under Vision 2030. This was said by Emmerson Mnangagwa while presenting the State of the Nation Address (SONA) and officially opening the Second Session of the Ninth Parliament on Tuesday.
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“The modernisation and rehabilitation of our infrastructure, in particular road networks, has resumed in earnest, with noticeable progress,” Mnangagwa said.
“Given that these are key enablers to our national economic revival as envisaged under Vision 2030, we are determined to leapfrog the quality of our infrastructure across the country. To date, a total of $2,5 billion, which constitutes 34,5 percent of total capital development, has been set aside for various transport, water, public amenities, energy, irrigation, social services and other infrastructural projects.”
Mnangagwa said the Hwange 7 and 8 Thermal Power Project, the Robert Gabriel Mugabe International Airport Expansion, borehole rehabilitation and drilling, and the construction of the new Parliament Building were projects well on course.
“Dam construction projects such as the Marovanyati Dam, Gwai-Shangani Dam, walling of Causeway Dam, among others, are also on schedule,” Mnangagwa said.
Mnangagwa said the country had raked in US$1,3 billion in tourism receipts.
“The tourism sector remains on an upward growth trajectory, generating about US$1,3 billion in receipts. To accelerate this growth trend, robust strategies are being pursued to boost investments in accommodation and conference facilities as well as widen our range of tourism products.
“I urge players in the sector to be flexible and adopt more competitive pricing regimes and to jointly market our attractions with partners from the region and beyond,” he said.
He added that reforms of public enterprises were also on course to ensure they increase their contribution to the country’s economic growth. “Significant steps that have been realised in the implementation of the Public Enterprise Reforms, these include the: De-merger of GMB into the GMB Strategic Grain Reserve and Silo Foods Industries; Recapitalisation of the NRZ, for which US$420 million has now been secured by the DIDG; Recapitalisation of CSC, of which the approved strategic partner is already on the ground; Unbundling of the Civil Aviation Authority of Zimbabwe (CAAZ); Approval by Cabinet of the roadmap for the privatisation of TelOne and NetOne as a single entity and The partial privatisation of Allied Timbers, POSB, ZUPCO, AGRIBANK and the IDBZ.” – state media
Ezra Tshisa Sibanda|MDC MPs never walked out of National Sports Stadium when President Mnangagwa was addressing the crowd during Mugabe’s Funeral Ceremony.
They sat there and listened attentively up to the end of his speech because there were allowances given for fuel to every MP who attended the funeral service. It’s surprising they walked out of parliament when ED was delivering his speech on SONA, something they need to debate about as legislators in this period.
Watch the same MPs in solidarity with Zanu PF MPs when it comes to the demand of increased allowances and new cars.
We should not forget some of them now have diplomatic passports given by the same President.
I will applaud them when they all decide to resign as MPs and abandon Parliament since this President is “illegitimate” as they claim. Stop sending mixed messages. Clowning should stop and Zimbabwe is bigger than both MDC and Zanu PF, it should be Zimbabwe first!
ormer Zimbabwe Power Company (ZPC) board chairman Stanley Kazhanje has been granted $1 000 bail pending appeal against both conviction and sentence for allegedly concealing a US$10 000 payment he received from Intratrek Zimbabwe chief executive Wicknell Chivayo, before the court imposed an effective one-year jail term.
Kazhanje, who is appealing against both conviction and sentence, at the High Court applied for bail pending appeal at the same court. Justice Amy Tsanga granted the application for bail by Kazhanje saying his prospects of success on appeal were high.
Through his lawyer, Advocate Sylvester Hashiti, Kazhanje argued that he was optimistic that he will succeed on appeal against the lower court’s decision, justifying the granting of bail.
His grounds of appeal ranged from challenging the onus which he said was wrongly placed on him to prove his defence, the correctness of the charge and the finding that he had not disclosed his personal interest in the Gwanda solar project transaction.
But the State, which was listed as the respondent, vehemently opposed Kazhanje’s application.
It argued that the trial court did not misdirect itself as the evidence was overwhelming that there had been no disclosure.
But in her ruling, Justice Tsanga noted that Kazhanje may not have disclosed his past relations with Intratrek but it could not have said on the basis of facts that were argued, he had an interest in the transaction, being the Gwanda solar project.
“Strictly speaking, there was no evidence placed before the court a quo that he had a personal interest in the Gwanda solar project,” she said.
“The prospects of success on conviction are, in my view, therefore, not manifestly doomed to failure. If there is a possibility of conviction being set aside, it stands to reason that so will sentence.”
It is the State’s case that on October 23 2015, Kazhanje signed an engineering, procurement and construction contract of a 100 megawatt solar power station project, in which he received US$10 000 from Intratrek under unclear circumstances.
The trial court also heard that because of Kazhanje’s actions, ZPC paid over $4 million to Intratrek as advance payment, despite the company failing to meet the terms of the contract.- state media
Farai Dziva|Former Chippa United coach Joel Masutha has given some advice to Norman Mapeza who took over the coaching job at the club this week.
Mapeza signed a three-year deal with the club on Tuesday as the Chilli Boys appointed a second new coach in the space of two weeks.
Clinton Larsen was the first to get the boot later last month and was replaced by Duran Francis who lasted just two matches as an interim coach.
Speaking to Kick-Off.com on Tuesday before Mapeza’s appointment, Masutha warned the next coach not to expect to last for a long time when he takes over at Chippa.
He said: “You just need to go there with a laptop and the tracksuit you’re wearing, don’t bring anything else.”
Meanwhile, Mapeza has become the 29th coach to take charge of Chippa United since the club’s formation just ten years ago.
Farai Dziva|Manchester City forward Bernardo Silva faces a potential six-match ban after the FA charged him with “aggravated misconduct” over his “racist” tweet towards team-mate Benjamin Mendy, it has emerged.
Silva landed in hot soup after he sent an image of Mendy as a schoolboy alongside a cartoon-like symbol of Spanish chocolate brand Conguitos.
Very sad!@ProfJNMoyo is not okay folks, Mlevu must come back home.
He should stop this unhinged hatred & bitterness, it's killing him.
We are willing to negotiate a return for him…. We will do this on humanitarian grounds… We will lose this man soon if this continues pic.twitter.com/1a2ka43Qna
A ZIMBABWEAN court has faulted the City of Harare (CoH) for disobeying a lawful court order after the local authority continued with housing developments on a wetland in one of Harare’s suburbs.
High Court Judge Justice Mary Zimba-Dube on Friday 27 September 2019 declared CoH to be in contempt of court after some residents of Greendale suburb in Harare represented by Memory Mafo and Fiona Iliff of Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights petitioned the High Court by filing a court application for contempt of court against the local authority.
In their application, the Greendale Residents and Ratepayers Association argued that CoH had proceeded to continue with housing developments on the Latimer/Greengroove Wetland Area and the Nature Reserve and Open and Passive space also known as Stand 298 Athlone Township in the Mukuvisi Catchment Area in Greendale suburb in flagrant defiance of and total contempt of a lawful court order issued by Justice Erica Ndewere.
On 8 May 2019, Justice Ndewere prohibited the local authority from developing and or constructing on a wetland until and unless the local municipality had fully complied with the requirements of the Environmental Management Act and the Regional, Town and Country Planning Act.
In court, Mafo and Iliff argued that CoH’s conduct was unlawful and called on the court to hold the local authority to be in contempt.
Justice Zimba-Dube also fined CoH ZWL$5, which was wholly suspended on condition that the local authority immediately complies with Justice Ndewere’s order issued on 8 May 2019.
Apart from CoH, Environmental Management Agency, Local Government, Public Works and National Housing Minister Hon. July Moyo, Environment, Tourism and Hospitality Minister Hon. Mangaliso Ndlovu and Upper Manyame Sub-Catchment Council were also cited as respondents by Greendale Residents and Ratepayers Association.
On several occasions, ZLHR has emphasised that wetlands need to be maintained for the ecosystem to be preserved and has urged government to put mechanisms to help protect and preserve wetlands with calls for authorities to establish a national environment council and bar land barons from allocating stands on swamps.
ZLHR has also expressed grave concern at the continued destruction and disturbance of wetlands around the country, pointing out that this destruction and degradation of wetlands has far reaching implications on the sustained availability of ground water, which is also heavily relied upon by many households that are not able to access municipal water.
By A Correspondent| An inmate who is on death sentence after killing four people believes he should be given a second chance in the society.
Doesmatter Vhore who was convicted for killing four commercial farmers in Mashonaland Central Province said he feels like he is still suitable to stay in the society just like other people who did not commit crimes.
The murderer committed the crime with his other two accomplices who were also slapped with the capital punishment. Capital punishment also known as the death penalty, is a government sanction practice whereby a person is killed by the State as a punishment for a crime.
They were sent to the gallows after the court found them guilty of murder with actual intent.
In an interview during the recent tour of actors, musicians and soccer legends tour of the Chikurubi Maximum Security Prison, Vhore said: “I still think we should be given an opportunity to have a second chance. The crime was committed in 2011 and we were sentenced to death last year.
“We have been writing appealing letters but to no avail.
By A Correspondent| The RBZ has lifted the ban it imposed on the Ecocash platform On Monday. Read The Full text below.
PRESS STATEMENT CASH-IN, CASH-OUT AND CASH-BACK FACILITIES
1. The Directive (NPS 01/2019) on cash-in, cash-out and cash-back facilities was issued to protect the transacting public from some mobile banking agents leveraging and abusing the payment ecosystems.
2. Payment systems by their nature play an important role of providing a mechanism or highway to facilitate economic activities in the country. As such, the Reserve Bank continues to promote digital financial services which contribute to financial inclusion and stability.
3. Cognizance of that, enhanced monitoring mechanisms have been put in place by both the Reserve Bank and Payment System Providers to mitigate against abuse of payment systems and ensure abusers are brought to book.
4. To this end, Payment System Providers and Agents are hereby advised that the cash-out facility is now capped at $100 per transaction with immediate effect. Related to that, existing operational cash in and cash-back limits shall remain.
5. Furthermore, the Reserve Bank will be injecting cash into the economy without changing money supply. In this regard, banks will exchange existing RTGS balances for cash thus maintaining the monetary base unchanged.
6. Financial institutions and Agents are required to strictly adhere to the Know Your Customer (KYC) and Customer Due Diligence (CDD) principles for all their customers at all times and ensure that there is no abuse of the payment systems.
7. Going forward, the Financial Intelligence Unit shall enhance the monitoring of financial activities to ensure compliance.
Highlanders continued their resurgence after beating Chicken Inn 2-0 in a derby encounter played at Barbourfields Stadium on Wednesday.
Tshilamoya took another step away from the relegation zone, jumping into 11th position with 31 points.
The game swang from one end to another in the first period with both teams taking chances to attack.
Chicken Inn enjoyed an early dominance with Valentine Kadonzvo and Brett Amidu getting opportunities.
Bosso got their first real attempt at goal just after the quarter-hour mark when Prince Dube picked a loose ball inside the box but shot over. The striker came back again moments later and again he failed to reach the target.
Coach Hendrik Pieter de Jongh who was presiding his first league encounter then made a tactical substitution on minute 37, bringing in Adrian Silla for Devine Mhindirira.
The change brought some mobility in Highlanders’ front line as they intensified the pressure on their opponents.
They got the best chance of game thus far on minute 43 when an unmarked Mbongeni Ndlovu headed over from an unmissable point and went to the break tied in a deadlock.
Brian Banda scored the first goal of the day seconds after the restart, striking home from a range following a great run at the right flank by Ray Lunga.
It didn’t take long before Dube doubled the lead with a brilliant effort eight minutes later.
The Gamecocks tried to hit back but were frustrated in the remainder of the match as it ended 2-0 in favour of the hosts.
In Harare, CAPS United moved to the top of the table after edging Triangle United 2-1, thanks to a late header by Godwin Goriyati.
Timothy January had put the Sugar Boys ahead after converting a spot-kick in the 74th minute.
Ronald Chitiyo restored parity a minute later after heading in Phineas Bamusi’s cross. Goriyati then snatched the victory in the stoppage time with a flashing header.
At Rufaro Stadium, Ralph Matema scored in the 3rd minute as Yadah took an early lead against Dynamos.
The Glamour Boys had Tawanda Macheke to thank after salvaging a point for them following his second-half equaliser.
Results: Highlanders 2-0 Chicken Inn Dynamos 1-1 Yadah (85′) CAPS United 2-1 Triangle United FC Platinum 0-0 TelOne Ngezi Platinum 1-0 ZPC Kariba Chapungu 1-0 Hwange Bulawayo Chiefs 1-0 Harare City Live: http://bit.ly/2mT8gY3
The Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe has announced that it will be injecting cash into the economy to ease the demand for it.
In a statement, the bank said it would do it in such a way as not to change the money supply.
How?
Well, they will exchange existing RTGS balances with banks for cash so that the money base remains unchanged.
The demand for cash had resulted in some mobile payment agents charging a premium as high as 60%, selling cash. It also saw a multi-tiered pricing system which would have a lower cost for cash payments than electronic ones.
Two years after Mugabe was ousted in a military coup. Mnangagwa’s government is failing to revive the economy in a country with abundant resources.
The figures produced by the IMF regarding the state of Zimbabwe are alarming. Zimbabwe’s inflation is highest in the world after Venezuela.
The ZANU PF government should accept defeat. This is evident in fuel queues, price hikes and 18-hr power cuts. No running clean water and there’s ED Mnangagwa flying in private jets. It’s mind boggling.
Some have a complete aversion to the hard truth. Some of us covet the truth after 4 decades of lies rammed down our throats. There was a time when chemicals were supplied locally and maintenance was programmed responsible. With this illegitimate government, everything is falling apart rapidly while they line up their pockets. It might help if we did not send a huge delegation on a Minister’s trip.
People have to realise that ZANU PF is not going to get any better. Their record speaks for itself, blatant incompetence, crimes against humanity, corruption, nepotism and mismanagement at every level. They spend millions on a dead man (Mugabe) where are their priorities. Time for Zimbabwean Ministers to take a pay cut and curb their expenses.
The Directive (NH 01/2019) on cash-in. cash-out and cash.back facilities was issued to protect the transacting public from some mobile banking agents leveraging and abusing the payment ecosystems.
Payment systems by their name play an important role of providing a mechanism or highway to facilitate economic activities in the country. As such, the Reserve Bank continues to promote digital financial services which contribute to financial inclusion and stability.
Cognizance of that, enhanced monitoring mechanisms have been put in place by both Reserve Bank and Payment System Providers to mitigate against abuse of payment systems and ensure abusers are brought to book.
To this end, Payment System Providers and Agents are hereby advised that the cash-out facility is now capped at $100 per transaction with immediate effect. Related to that, existing operational cash in and cash-back limits shall remain.
Furthermore, the Reserve Bank will be injecting cash into the economy without changing money supply. In this regard, banks will exchange existing RTGS balances for cash thus maintaining the monetary, base unchanged.
Financial institutions and Agents are required to strictly adhere to the Know Your Customer KYC and Customer Due Diligence ICDD, principles for all their customers at all times and ensure that there is no abuse of the payment systems
Going forward. the Financial Intelligence Unit shall enhance monitoring of financial activities to ensure compliance.
By Jane Mlambo| There was a tense atmosphere outside the High Court of Zimbabwe after two allies of President Emmerson Mnangagwa Justice Mayor Wadyajena and Kudakwashe Tagwirei met for the trial of their $3.6 million lawsuit today.
Wadyajena
and Tagwirei are locked in a legal battle in which Wadyajena is claiming $3.6
million from Sakunda Holdings for using his trucks without his consent.
Dejected Wadyajena leaving the High Court today
Last week
Wadyajena allegedly posted on his Twitter account that Tagwirei went outside
the country together with his family running away from alleged corruption cases
that saw most of his accounts suspended.
Wadyajena’s claims have come under scrutiny following reports that Tagwirei went outside the country for business and came back last week.
Wadyajena
looked dejected when he came out of the court contrary to Tagwirei who was
smiling all the way to his vehicle.
Tagwirei was accompanied by his close associate Tinomuda Machakaire popularly known as Tinmac while Wadyajena was in the company of his legal team.
Smiling Tagwirei in the company of his colleague Tino Machakaire and legal team at the High court
This was after the legislator filed a $3,6
million lawsuit which Tagwireyi is now defending.
The
Gokwe-Nembudziya MP is accusing the Sakunda Holdings owner of illegally using
fuel tankers from his company, Mayor Logistics.
However, in
papers filed by his lawyers, Manase and Manase Legal Practitioners on November
5 at the High Court, Tagwirei accused his rival of trying to extort money from
him.
“Does the
plaintiff take this claim seriously? Is this not an attempt to run an
extortionist agenda?” Tagwirei asked.
“Are the
plaintiff and Hon Justice Mayor Wadyajena running an extortionist cartel to
fleece genuine businesses?”
The notice
of appearance to defend himself was accompanied with agreements entered into
between Wadyajena and Tagwirei including evidence of payment of $1 883 666.00
to the MP on May 22, 2018 through his lawyers.
Tagwirei
claimed that was the last payment made to offset his obligations to the MP.
He also
filed copy of a memorandum of agreement showing that the two would not to sue
each other made on April 24, 2017.
However, in his application, Wadyajena insisted he is owed money for the use of the four fuel tankers belonging to his company without his consent.
EcoCash, its agents and the RBZ are collectively the most topical subject in Zimbabwe right now. Taking a closer look at the saga which culminated in the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe banning cashing in and out of mobile money platforms reveals the politics of the situation:
First the economics
The summary of the situation in Zimbabwe is that for a long time the government insisted that Zimbabweans were still using US Dollars even though the government had wiped out our bank accounts of real money and replaced it with fictional numbers that we would just pass around as money.
Of course the market is perceptive and the value of money became dependent on what form of payment you were using. If you paid in cash you paid less than if you used electronic means including mobile money. To try to bandage things together, the government introduced Bond Notes which they said were a pseudo currency that represented USD at a 1:1 ratio on the face value.
This merely changed the pricing dynamics to 3 tiers in the market. If one paid in USD they paid the least followed by payment in Bond Notes and then lastly through electronic means. The disparity in the value attributed to cash vs electronic forms of money didn’t go away even after the government abolished the use of USD and other forex. In fact the riff between the value of cash and non cash widened. Some informal businesses would reject non cash payments altogether especially public transport operators.
Desperate individuals who wanted to buy goods cheaper or be able to buy at all were forced to go to street brokers who accepted their electronic money and gave them cash. Of course the said brokers would have a fee for their service. The most dominant payment channel for retail payments is EcoCash and thus most of these transactions involved the mobile money service.
Public outrage
Of course the public was enraged. The problem (in my view) is that the public concentrated on the last mile guy they buy cash from: the EcoCash agent and by extension EcoCash itself. As far as the ordinary person was concerned, the EcoCash agent was a mean person taking advantage of them and EcoCash had to swoop in and stop this villain. I always contended that there is not much EcoCash could do because the problem was at the fundamental core of supply and demand.
On Twitter, the EcoCash CEO, Natalie Jabangwe was attacked for ‘doing nothing’ to solve this. Was it her problem to solve though? In part yes. EcoCash announced they were and had shut down agents they suspected of ‘abusing’ their platform by selling cash.
I think it’s debatable whether we should call this abuse. If I have something you want and are willing to pay for it, am I abusing you when I sell it to you? Pricing is the market’s response to the difficult question of resource allocation. The responsibility for this conundrum has always been on the shoulders of government and the central bank. They are the ones who made the value of cash different from that of bank balances.
Anyway, the public was angry and that anger especially on social media was directed at EcoCash agents and ultimately at EcoCash.
Strive Masiyiwa and his road
As the rage waged on, Strive Masiyiwa weighed in. He argued that it wasn’t his mobile money company that was to blame. he described EcoCash as merely a road and it was senseless to uproot the road just because thieves used it sometimes.
Masiyiwa was not 100% sincere here. No one was asking anyone to uproot the road but people were asking for checkpoints on the road to try to stop the thieves. I am actually quite sympathetic to EcoCash here and I don’t think any checkpoints were gonna work. However, people wantyed to see an attempt and they did not feel such an attempt was being made. Masiyiwa evaded this. No one had said the probem had originated with Ecocash, they just wanted the owners of the platform they used and depended on to do more than distribute fliers that said ‘don’t buy cash.’
Public rage gets hijacked
A desperate government does desperate things. The public’s misdirected anger was a gift from Santa to Zimbabwe’s government. They fueled that rage only so that the public would be blinded from the real issues for example the fact that the government is failing to deliver on any of its promises including ‘opening Zimbabwe for business.’
Even the anti corruption commission which has been failing to prosecute blatant and widely known corruption cases saw opportunity in the new villain called EcoCash. They labelled the selling of cash by agents as corruption that reached the top at EcoCash even pointing out Natalie Jabangwe specifically.
Sadly, anger is blinding. The public was gullible and their anger was used against them. The big bad wolf became EcoCash and the real guys who caused all this mess in the first place were not part of the narrative.
Banning of cash in and out
The RBZ issued a directive banning mobile money operators (EcoCash really) from offering cash-in and cash-out services anymore. This was an ill advised move and probably motivated by a desire to be seen to be doing something more than anything else. Weak motivations lead to weak decisions and this one was the weakest stuff.
The result of this is that the cost of cash on the streets has more than doubled now. Now the public can see that they were angry at the wrong fella. The problem is that there is a distortion in the market and that distortion has more to do with people’s lack of confidence in the government and by extension the banking system. This makes the perceived value of money held in bank accounts and mobile money wallets less than that of cash.
As I argued before, the rush moves the government continues to make like the banning of cash-in and cash-out itself only depend the distrust and thus the gap in value people ascribe to physical cash and electronic balances. The problem will not even go away if they do mass arrests of people selling cash in the streets. If they do that it will get worse. The higher risk that will then exist when selling cash will make the enterprising street people charge more for their service. Cash will still be sold and bought but at a higher price like is happening today.
This should tell all who have been asking EcoCash to ‘do something’ that if EcoCash had ‘done something’ the price of cash would have increased. Mangudya ‘did something’ on Monday and the premium on cash is at 100% now and it may get even worse than this.
A TWO-YEAR-OLD was mauled to death by a pack of hyenas in Kanyemba, Mashonaland Central.
Zimparks spokesperson Tinashe Farawo said they discovered the child’s head and the clothes, which the boy was putting on.
“There was a sad incident in Mashonaland Central, a two year old boy was killed by hyenas last week. We discovered the head and the clothes the boy putting on,” Farawo said.
He also said another boy went missing on the same day.
“The other boy is still missing. We have deployed a helicopter to search for the missing boy. Investigations are still in progress.
“It’s really unfortunate that we have lost a young life to wildlife,” he said.
Farawo said human- wildlife conflict is mainly caused by the overpopulation of animals in protected areas, which are now invading human settlements causing untoward suffering to our people.
“In order to reduce these cases of dangerous animals which are a threat to human life, we need to manage the numbers,” he added.
Farawo said at least 19 lives have been lost since January this year across the country through human-animal conflicts.
“Cases of human wildlife conflict have been on the increase in the country and so far we have lost 19 lives since January and we receive these cases daily,” he said.
Borrowdale Brooke Home Owners Association members have put together $660 000 to build a state of the art massive sewage and water treatment plant.
The plant was officially opened by VP Chiwenga’s wife, Mrs Mary Mubaiwa-Chiwenga.
Writing about the development Rusty Markham MP for Harare North said:
Monday I attended the opening of the Borrowdale Brooke home Owners Association new sewage plant. What a sterling effort from these people. Despite the numerous challenges they have completed a self funded US$660 000 project. Thank you to the guest of Honour, Mrs M Chiwenga
Monday I attended the opening of the Borrowdale Brooke home Owners Association new sewage plant.
What a sterling effort from these people. Despite the numerous challenges they have completed a self funded US$660 000 project.
Monday I attended the opening of the Borrowdale Brooke home Owners Association new sewage plant.
What a sterling effort from these people. Despite the numerous challenges they have completed a self funded US$660 000 project. Thank you to the guest of Honour, Mrs M Chiwenga pic.twitter.com/q34yKyPOrm
— Rusty Markham Ex MP Harare East (@Katazamhondoro) October 1, 2019
The second lady Marry Chiwenga was the guest of honour at the official opening of the plant.
Marry has been in China with her husband Vice President General (Rtd) Constantino Chiwenga who has been receiving medical treatment there for several months.
It is still not clear if she came back alone or with VP Chiwenga.
Aston Villa coach Dean Smith has hailed Marvelous Nakamba who arrived at the club in the pre-season.
The midfielder has made an excellent start to life in the English Premier League and seems to be getting better every time he gets on the pitch.
He has played every minute of the last three consecutive league matches, including the 2-2 draw with Burnley at the weekend.
“I thought Nakamba was very good [against Burnley], only his third start,” said Smith as he reflected on the weekend’s game.
The 25-year-old Zimbabwean’s performance has also gotten himself some fans. He was voted the most outstanding Villa player over the weekend, a second honour in the season.
EcoCash agents countrywide are not operating smoothly following a directive from the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) issued on Monday amid business collapse fears as cash suppliers hold on to their money.
It is reported that over 50 000 EcoCash agents are out of work following the clamp down on the dealers.
RBZ Deputy Director Financial Markets and National Payments System, Josephat Mutepfa issued a ban on cash-in, cash-out payment system and cash back facility in shops citing illegal activities affecting prices of goods and services.
A survey conducted by H-Metro established that many agents’ shops were closed and some EcoCash dealers were seen loitering around accepting the South African Rand and US dollars.
Commuters were yesterday morning stranded as they could not cash-out for transport money at the usual EcoCash agents.
One dealer, who preferred anonymity, said the situation is uncertain and they had to close their shop until the issue calms down.
“I’m not trading for now until we know what is really going to happen with our agent lines but for now I prefer Rand against US dollars and bond notes to familiar faces,” he said.
“I think Econet is only targeting those transacting huge amounts of money such as RTGS$100 000 or RTGS$20 000 and sending from agent to agent,” he added.
The EcoCash dealers were now charging bond notes for 60 percent and 40 percent on bond coins on top of their commission.
As of yesterday, the black market rate had been tumbling and was trading around RTGS $95.00 bond notes per US$10 and RTGS$160 transfer money per US$10.
A 34-YEAR-OLD Bindura man has been arrested on charges of killing his wife’s alleged boyfriend with a hoe.
Paradzai Parafini of Showground Compound was not asked to plead when he appeared before Bindura magistrate Ruramai Chitumbura, who remanded him in custody to October 10.
The State alleges that on August 1 at around 11pm, Parafini received information that his wife was seen coming out of the now-deceased, Arineshito Zhuwawo Janhi’s bedroom in a suspected infidelity affair.
He teamed up with his friend, who is still at large, and allegedly stormed Janhi’s homestead armed with a hoe.
The duo allegedly broke into the deceased’s house and assaulted him, killing him on the spot.
Tariro Janhi represented the State.
In another case, a Glendale man, Subbert Gorerino was slapped with a five-year jail term by Concession magistrate Ruth Moyo for cultivating 21 mbanje plants in his garden.
One year of the sentence was suspended on condition of good behaviour.
Prosecutor Kumbirai Nyamvura said the convict was arrested on September 9 after a tip-off.Newsday
Phil Colllins was being pushed along in a wheelchair just a day before he suffered a fall while onstage.
The Genesis rocker, 68, was seen being helped along by an assistant after getting out of a chauffeur-driven car ahead of his gig in Charlotte, North Carolina, at the weekend.
He fell backwards off his chair while watching his son Nicolas, 18, do a drum solo at his Not Dead Yet show at the Spectrum Center on Sunday.
In footage of the accident the crowd is heard screaming in shock as Phil falls on his back while aides rush to help him.
The ruling ZANU-PF party has described as “pathetic” the walkout from President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s State of the Nation Address (SONA) yesterday by opposition MDC Members of Parliament.
The opposition MPs walked out on Mnangagwa for the second time in as many addresses insisting he is an illegitimate leader following the highly contested July 2018 elections.
Following their stance, Speaker of Parliament Jacob Mudenda has reacted angrily, ordering that their allowances be withheld for the next five months.
In a statement, ZANU-PF Secretary for Information, Simon Khaya-Moyo said; “The pathetic antics exhibited yesterday by the opposition MDC-Alliance confirmed the true nature of this disoriented puppet organisation masquerading as a democratic outfit.
“Their clumsy walkout during His Excellency, President Cde E.D. Mnangagwa’s address served the Ideal purpose of exposing them as a clueless so-called democratic movement with hardly any interest of Zimbabwe and its heroic people. The bid is to pander to the machinations of their Western founders and funders whose interest have always been inimical to Zimbabwe,” said Khaya-Moyo.
The Nelson Chamisa-led opposition has failed to recognise Mnangagwa as the legitimate President of Zimbabwe, arguing that they were “robbed’ off an election victory last year.
However, the ruling party said the allegations are hypocritical.
“For MDC-Alliance to lay claims of illegitimacy on the Office of His Excellency, the President Cde E.D Mnangagwa is not only hypocritical but fallacious as it borders on hallucination.
“The revolutionary ZANU PF would like to remind the MDC-Alliance and its cohorts that a harmonized election was conducted on 31 July 2018 where the patriotic masses of Zimbabwe gave their Party of choice, the revolutionary ZANU PF, an unassailable mandate to govern this great nation. The revolutionary party has a two-thirds majority against the toss insignificant number,” the statement further stated
Despite the walkout, Mnangagwa called on all parties which participated in the 2018 elections to join the Political Actors Dialogue (POLAD) to discuss on how to take the country out of the murky waters it finds itself in.
Chamisa has on several occasions turned down the offer alleging that the “legitimacy crisis” must be resolved first and calling on Mnangagwa to “admit to losing the election”.
Aston Villa coach Dean Smith has hailed Marvelous Nakamba who arrived at the club in the pre-season.
The midfielder has made an excellent start to life in the English Premier League and seems to be getting better every time he gets on the pitch.
He has played every minute of the last three consecutive league matches, including the 2-2 draw with Burnley at the weekend.
“I thought Nakamba was very good [against Burnley], only his third start,” said Smith as he reflected on the weekend’s game.
The 25-year-old Zimbabwean’s performance has also gotten himself some fans. He was voted the most outstanding Villa player over the weekend, a second honour in the season.Soccer24
State Media|ZANU-PF has intensified preparations for the anti-sanctions campaign scheduled for October 25, which will coincide with various in SADC countries.
SADC have declared October 25 as the solidarity day against illegal sanctions imposed on Zimbabwe.
The party’s Secretary for Administration Dr Obert Mpofu told journalists yesterday that preparations for the anti-sanctions day were now at an advanced stage.
“Some departments such as the Commissariat department, information and other wings, have been giving us reports on progress that has been made so far towards preparing for this great function.
“As you might be aware, we hosted a very successful meeting of Former Liberation Movements in Victoria Falls where this matter came in our agenda. The SADC members’ states expressed their tremendous support to Zimbabwe on sanctions imposed on us,” said Dr Mpofu.
He said the anti-sanctions campaign was going to a great occasion.
A professional footballer for French Ligue 1 side Nice, has been sacked by the club after he admitted to stealing a teammate’s watch in the dressing room.
Lamine Diaby-Fadiga a Danish international stole teammate Kasper Dolsberg’s watch on the 16th of September in the Nice dressing room, an incident which was reported to the police leading to the former’s arrest.
Nice released a statement on their website confirming they have parted ways with the player.
“Following the theft of Kasper Dolberg’s watch from the changing room, and the subsequent admission of the player, the club decided to cancel its contract with the forward with immediate effect.
“Above and beyond all sporting and financial consideration, Nice cannot and will not accept such behaviour that betrays the confidence that unites all the club’s employees and all the members of the Rouge et Noir [Red and Black] family.” read the statement.Soccer 24
Ezra Tshisa Sibanda|MDC MPs never walked out of National Sports Stadium when President Mnangagwa was addressing the crowd during Mugabe’s Funeral Ceremony.
They sat there and listened attentively up to the end of his speech because there were allowances given for fuel to every MP who attended the funeral service. It’s surprising they walked out of parliament when ED was delivering his speech on SONA, something they need to debate about as legislators in this period.
Watch the same MPs in solidarity with Zanu PF MPs when it comes to the demand of increased allowances and new cars.
We should not forget some of them now have diplomatic passports given by the same President.
I will applaud them when they all decide to resign as MPs and abandon Parliament since this President is “illegitimate” as they claim. Stop sending mixed messages. Clowning should stop and Zimbabwe is bigger than both MDC and Zanu PF, it should be Zimbabwe first!
Farai Dziva|Manchester City forward Bernardo Silva faces a potential six-match ban after the FA charged him with “aggravated misconduct” over his “racist” tweet towards team-mate Benjamin Mendy, it has emerged.
Silva landed in hot soup after he sent an image of Mendy as a schoolboy alongside a cartoon-like symbol of Spanish chocolate brand Conguitos.
Insurance is based on the principle of utmost good faith and the insurer has a fiduciary duty of care to treat customers fairly and honestly.
Zimnat Life has questions to answer.
Diaspora Insurance guaranteed policy holders that their terms and conditions, start dates, premiums, covers amounts and covered people do not change. All what Diasporans are doing is to guarantee their long-term protection. If one moves their policy from say Insurance Company A to Insurance Company B and all your accrued benefits are not affected, why would you need permission of the old insurer to move. The threat that your cover will lapse equally because void because you will have moved.
Diaspora Insurance is moving clients in the interest of protecting and guaranteeing their long term protection with the biggest re-insurer in in the world, MunichRe.
Zimnat Life in trying to hold on to the Diaspora dollar is making a void claim and threats. In fact, Zimnat is increasingly sounding like a lion chasing a beast for dinner and trying to convince the prey that you don’t have a right to run away because you are my dinner.
All the Zimnat Life threats are gimmicks motivated by greed and chase for the Diaspora dollar. The ultimate loser are the Diasporans and their children. We all have scars and painful history of our losses in the Zimbabwe insurance industry.
These are the key questions that Zimnat has to answer:
1. In the beginning who approached who with the Diaspora Funeral Cash Plan project vision? Whose vision and intellectual property is Diaspora Funeral Cash Plan?
2. How does it make sense that someone approaches you to underwrite a fully developed product with all systems in place then you appoint them as your agent on their own product?
3. In your business relationship with Diaspora Insurance, what is your responsibility on the Diaspora Funeral Cash Plan?
4. Diaspora Funeral Cash Plan has been available to Zambians worldwide underwritten by Madison Life for over 5 years, did Zimnat Life appoint Diaspora Insurance in Zambia with a different underwriter?
5. Since inception did Zimnat Life invest in DFCP and what was the investment for, if any?
6. If Diaspora Insurance was to say they want to change their underwriter like they have done, what entitlement does Zimnat Life have to want to retain the clients if they don’t own and did not develop DFCP and have never invested anything in DFCP?
7. Zimnat Life has many other Insurances previously sold as USD denominated products since dollarisation in 2009, when the RTGS/Z$ was reintroduced and given the alleged capacity through Sanlam Life’s minority shareholding, why have they not refunded or guaranteed clients the USD covers they bought?
8. Who are the international reinsurers for Zimnat?
9. Why is Zimnat contacting clients who are cancelling policies now when in the past they have never chased someone who missed or cancelled a direct debit?
10. Why is Zimnat Life breaching the Service Level Agreement they have with Diaspora Insurance which bars them fro contacting DFCP clients directly?
Insurance is based on the principle of utmost good faith and Zimnat Life has a fiduciary duty to clients and must treat customers fairly by answering simple questions.
Farai Dziva|Highlanders’ new mentor Hendrik Pieter de Jongh will take charge of his first league match in the Bulawayo Derby against Chicken Inn at Barbourfields Stadium.
The Dutchman arrived at the club last week and had his first assignment against Dynamos on Sunday in the Chibuku Super Cup which he won 1-0.
“We play one of the top teams, Chicken Inn. A big game tomorrow (today), the mood is good,” he said ahead of the match.
“I have got information about Chicken Inn. I did some research on the internet. I have respect for Chicken Inn. They are a good team. I know we lost the first match and from the information I got, it will not be easy tomorrow, but I hope for a good result.”
Highlanders lost 3-0 in the reverse fixture played at the same venue in May.
Farai Dziva|Former Chippa United coach Joel Masutha has given some advice to Norman Mapeza who took over the coaching job at the club this week.
Mapeza signed a three-year deal with the club on Tuesday as the Chilli Boys appointed a second new coach in the space of two weeks.
Clinton Larsen was the first to get the boot later last month and was replaced by Duran Francis who lasted just two matches as an interim coach.
Speaking to Kick-Off.com on Tuesday before Mapeza’s appointment, Masutha warned the next coach not to expect to last for a long time when he takes over at Chippa.
He said: “You just need to go there with a laptop and the tracksuit you’re wearing, don’t bring anything else.”
Meanwhile, Mapeza has become the 29th coach to take charge of Chippa United since the club’s formation just ten years ago.
ED Mnangagwa, You must learn to listen first so that you are listened to.
Listen to the suffering cries of those abductees, the 2,6 million who voted @nelsonchamisa, those whose rights you proscribe and those you killed in August 2018 and January 2019. Maybe, just maybe, we may then decide to listen to you .-Luke Tamborinyoka
By Own Correspondent| Permanent secretary in the ministry of information, Nick Mangwana has queried why the prices of basic goods and services remain high despite the tumbling forex exchange rates.
margarine
Said Mangwana;
“When forex rated were escalating, shelf prices were escalating as everyone was passing the burden on to the consumer. After recent interventions, forex exchange rates started tumbling but these gains are not being passed on to the consumer. Why? #PricesMustFall”
When forex rates were escalating, shelf prices were also escalating as everyone was passing the burden on to the consumer. After recent interventions, forex exchange rates started tumbling but these gains are not being passed on to the consumer. Why? #PricesMustFall
Emmerson Mnangagwa’s long, boring and empty soliloquy disguised as a State Of the Nation Address (SONA) presented yesterday is not only a bunch of useless, contemptuous, superfluous and pernicious lies but rather an insulting and provocative act to the long suffering, hungry and starving ordinary citizens.
It is very clear that Mr Mnangagwa is clueless, hopeless and directionless when it comes to proffering solutions to the country’s socio-economic and political problems.
If anything there, Mr Mnangagwa’s SONA only served to confirm that the septuagenarian is totally divorced from bare issues stalking our people.
It is quite regrettable that Mr Mnangagwa’s speech which was supposedly and ideally expected to touch on issues affecting the nation was glaringly devoid of any mention let alone remedy on issues like lack of electricity, water, fuel, non availability of cash, poor wages, human rights abuses, terror, abductions, illegitimacy and reforms.
As an Assembly, we are very much convinced that the ConCourt selected ruler is far from sad realities affecting our people on daily basis and as such he is not fit to be accorded any attention and respect by our people elected Parliamentarians who live and engage with the suffering masses on daily basis.
As young social democrats who believe in solidarity with the downtrodden, we applaud the decision by MPs who walked out on Mnangagwa as it is a clear sign of people to people solidarity by our legislators.
We would also want to warn Mr Mnangagwa that what our esteemed Parliamentarians did yesterday is just an alarm and a signpost of the massive citizen defiance activities lying ahead.
While our esteemed legislators might be punished by having their allowances withdrawn for five months, we the citizens have nothing to lose except our poverty and chains!
We are very much determined as empoverished youths of this once great nation to walk out of poverty, hopelessness and misery and our only path to do so is by confronting this military regime.
As an Assembly, we are very clear that Mnangagwa has failed and only a leader with a social contract with the people can extricate our country from this taunting malady.
Farai Dziva|The MDC Youth Assembly has described Emmerson Mnangagwa’s State of The Nation Address as baseless and clueless.
See full statement below:
MDC Youth Assembly Speaks On Mnangagwa’s SONA
Emmerson Mnangagwa’s long, boring and empty soliloquy disguised as a State Of the Nation Address (SONA) presented yesterday is not only a bunch of useless, contemptuous, superfluous and pernicious lies but rather an insulting and provocative act to the long suffering, hungry and starving ordinary citizens.
It is very clear that Mr Mnangagwa is clueless, hopeless and directionless when it comes to proffering solutions to the country’s socio-economic and political problems.
If anything there, Mr Mnangagwa’s SONA only served to confirm that the septuagenarian is totally divorced from bare issues stalking our people.
It is quite regrettable that Mr Mnangagwa’s speech which was supposedly and ideally expected to touch on issues affecting the nation was glaringly devoid of any mention let alone remedy on issues like lack of electricity, water, fuel, non availability of cash, poor wages, human rights abuses, terror, abductions, illegitimacy and reforms.
As an Assembly, we are very much convinced that the ConCourt selected ruler is far from sad realities affecting our people on daily basis and as such he is not fit to be accorded any attention and respect by our people elected Parliamentarians who live and engage with the suffering masses on daily basis.
As young social democrats who believe in solidarity with the downtrodden, we applaud the decision by MPs who walked out on Mnangagwa as it is a clear sign of people to people solidarity by our legislators.
We would also want to warn Mr Mnangagwa that what our esteemed Parliamentarians did yesterday is just an alarm and a signpost of the massive citizen defiance activities lying ahead.
While our esteemed legislators might be punished by having their allowances withdrawn for five months, we the citizens have nothing to lose except our poverty and chains!
We are very much determined as empoverished youths of this once great nation to walk out of poverty, hopelessness and misery and our only path to do so is by confronting this military regime.
As an Assembly, we are very clear that Mnangagwa has failed and only a leader with a social contract with the people can extricate our country from this taunting malady.
Farai Dziva|The MDC has called on the national broadcaster, ZBC to be objective in the coverage of national issues.
“The MDC spokespersons Hon. Daniel Molokele and his deputy Luke Batsirai Tamborinyoka yesterday met with the ZBC management as part of their engagement tour of the country’s media houses.
The MDC team raised the matter of the recent High Court judgement exhorting the public media to comply with their Constitutional obligation to impartiality and presentatiion of divergent views, among other issues. It was a frank engagement,” said the party in a statement.
Farai Dziva|The MDC Youth Assembly has described Emmerson Mnangagwa’s State of The Nation Address as an empty soliloquy.
See full statement below:
Emmerson Mnangagwa’s long, boring and empty soliloquy disguised as a State Of the Nation Address (SONA) presented yesterday is not only a bunch of useless, contemptuous, superfluous and pernicious lies but rather an insulting and provocative act to the long suffering, hungry and starving ordinary citizens.
It is very clear that Mr Mnangagwa is clueless, hopeless and directionless when it comes to proffering solutions to the country’s socio-economic and political problems.
If anything there, Mr Mnangagwa’s SONA only served to confirm that the septuagenarian is totally divorced from bare issues stalking our people.
It is quite regrettable that Mr Mnangagwa’s speech which was supposedly and ideally expected to touch on issues affecting the nation was glaringly devoid of any mention let alone remedy on issues like lack of electricity, water, fuel, non availability of cash, poor wages, human rights abuses, terror, abductions, illegitimacy and reforms.
As an Assembly, we are very much convinced that the ConCourt selected ruler is far from sad realities affecting our people on daily basis and as such he is not fit to be accorded any attention and respect by our people elected Parliamentarians who live and engage with the suffering masses on daily basis.
As young social democrats who believe in solidarity with the downtrodden, we applaud the decision by MPs who walked out on Mnangagwa as it is a clear sign of people to people solidarity by our legislators.
We would also want to warn Mr Mnangagwa that what our esteemed Parliamentarians did yesterday is just an alarm and a signpost of the massive citizen defiance activities lying ahead.
While our esteemed legislators might be punished by having their allowances withdrawn for five months, we the citizens have nothing to lose except our poverty and chains!
We are very much determined as empoverished youths of this once great nation to walk out of poverty, hopelessness and misery and our only path to do so is by confronting this military regime.
As an Assembly, we are very clear that Mnangagwa has failed and only a leader with a social contract with the people can extricate our country from this taunting malady.
By A Correspondent- The Postal and Telecommunications Regulatory Authority of Zimbabwe (Potraz) has declared war on those who vandalise their property and is advocating for stiffer penalties on perpetrators.
Speaking in Rutenga, Masvingo during one of their consumer awareness campaigns, Potraz consumer affairs manager Phibion Chaibva said the authority will leave no stone unturned in its efforts to curb acts of vandalism on network infrastructure.
“We want to warn those perpetrators to desist from such acts. We all need to take action and ensure that we protect the equipment. There is a growing trend which has resulted in all operators experiencing a number of theft and vandalism cases at their base stations which has resulted in disruption of the network,” Chaibva said.
“People are stealing fuel, batteries and solar panels and when the network is disrupted, it is the consumers who are affected and cannot transact. You know these thieves because they leave within the community. Let’s report them to the police because they are dragging our country backwards. Take ownership and responsibility.”
He said the authority was advocating for stiffer penalties for base station vandals. “We are working on various security mechanisms which we will not say in public, but desist from such habits such as tampering with telecommunications infrastructure. It is a serious offence which attracts a mandatory jail term.”
Potraz is holding roadshows to educate consumers on their rights and obligations, as well as on the economic and social impacts of vandalism of ICT equipment.
This week, the regulator is covering Chiredzi, Triangle, Rutenga, Neshuro, Ngundu, Renco, Muchakata, Mapanzure, Sese and Mushandike with a mega roadshow expected to be held at Nemamwa Growth Point on Saturday in collaboration with Radio Zimbabwe.
The road shows are being held under the theme Postal and Telecommunications Consumers — Know Your Rights.
By A Correspondent- The Zimbabwe Anti Corruption Commission has distanced itself from a fake social media message calling on citizens to report their landlords who are charging tenants in forex.
Said the ZACC in a statement:
“We have noted a counterfeit notice circulating on WhatsApp and various social media platforms, purported to have come from @matandamoyo regarding foreign currency syndicates. Neither the commission nor the chairperson has released such communication.”
By A Correspondent- The situation in public hospitals is set to worsen after senior doctors declared incapacitation saying they will not be reporting for duty with effect from tomorrow.
The doctors will be joining their junior counterparts who downed tools close to a month ago, leaving public health institutions crippled.
In a memo addressed to the Health and Child Care minister, his permanent secretary and the Health Services Board (HSB), the Senior Hospital Doctors Association (SHDA) said they are no longer able to carry out their duties due to the prevailing economic situation.
The senior doctors said their conditions of service are appalling and disgraceful since their remuneration is not in line with comparative trends regionally.
On the other hand, the doctors claim to be waiting for their employer to respond to their request for their salaries to be reviewed before they abandon the strike. As these accusations and counter accusations fly, patients are stranded in hospitals while some are dying since the doctors have been on strike for 30 days.
By A Correspondent- In a disturbing incident, a 14-year-old girl was se_xually assaulted when she boarded a ZUPCO bus.
According to the H-Metro, the girl (name withheld) boarded a Washtag bus along Robson Manyika Avenue and she was standing.
The incident reportedly occurred after the girl bent down with her butt0cks towards a seated passenger, Tozivaripi Musandipa, who then reached out for her backside.
The girl then quizzed Musandipa why he was doing that to her and to the girls surprise Musandipa then started shouting at the victim.
The enraged girl then alerted a police officer who was in the bus leading to Musandipa’ arrest.
The matter came to light before Harare magistrate Rumbidzai Mugwagwa who deferred the case to October 8 for trial.
The ZUPCO bus is a cheaper alternative for most Zimbabweans since commuter omnibus prices have skyrocketed following the erratic hikes in the price of diesel and petrol. Due to the overwhelming demand, it is now quite normal for buses to be crowded and have two lines of standing passengers in the aisles, something which se_x predators and pick-pocketers have used to their advantage.
Centre for Natural Resource Governance (CNRG) Director Farai Maguwu has refuted claims by the United States government to ban the Marange diamonds on the basis of reports of forced labour in their extraction.
Maguwu said his organisation has been working in Marange and is not aware of cases of forced labour.
“I wish to make it clear that as leader of one of the organizations doing human rights work in Marange, we are NOT aware of cases of forced labour in Marange. This is mainly because artisanal miners go to Marange voluntarily. We have raised serious concerns with human rights of artisanal miners and the wider Marange community but in our analysis these do NOT amount to forced labour. Our work is guided by high ethical standards and as such we would never issue unverified information,” said Maguwu while posting on Twitter.
Yesterday, the US government shocked many when it announced a ban on the sale of Marange diamonds citing issues of forced labour in Marange.
According to the US Customs and Border Protection the ban was based on information obtained that indicates that the products are produced in whole or in part using forced labor.
“U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) issued five Withhold Release Orders (WROs) covering five different products, imported from five different countries yesterday, September 30. This action was based on information obtained and reviewed by CBP that indicates that the products are produced, in whole or in part, using forced labor,” reads part of the communication.
By A Correspondent- Government has no plans to write off Command Agriculture debts and expects beneficiaries of the facility to pay back dues. Command Agriculture is a cost recovery scheme that was introduced by Government in 2016 to substitute importation of maize.
This production programme targeted both A1 and A2 farmers as well as Government institutional farms, particularly those near water bodies.
Under the facility, farmers are provide with seed, herbicides and fertilisers, among other inputs.
In a recent statement, Finance and Economic Development Ministry said since the inception of the Command Agriculture programme to date, Government has through Sakunda Holdings availed funding amounting to US$1, 02 billion in support of the crop production.
The ministry said Government had this year disbursed $603,8 million, excluding interest to Sakunda.
“Government has fully availed all the local funding for the contracted hectarage through the financiers who were contractually tasked to handle the procurement processes. Any third-party reconciliations and settlements are therefore handled in accordance with that arrangement.
“However, in some instances where inputs required foreign currency allocations and there are still outstanding foreign currency obligations, these will be treated on a case-by-case basis in accordance with the current framework for resolving legacy foreign currency obligations,” read the statement.
The ministry urged farmers to continue paying their debts as there are no plans to write off the debts.
“Records for the two seasons are still being updated, but so far over $180,3 million has been collected from farmers.
“Government has not written off any debts to farmers and does not intend to do so. All farmers are expected to honour their obligations under the programme in full, even after the programme has been wound up,” read the statement.
The ministry said Command Agriculture was continuing for the next seasons.
“As from the 2019-2020 summer cropping season, and in line with the Transitional Stabilisation Programme (TSP) and the Budget Statements for 2019, the financing model for Special Grain and Oil Seed (Maize, Wheat and Soya Beans) Production (Command Agriculture) has been transformed and now involves commercial banks and Private Sector Out-grower schemes, working jointly with Government on a Public Private Partnership (PPP) basis.
“So far the banks that have entered into a partnership with Government include, Agribank, CBZ Bank and Stanbic Bank. More banks are expected to join the programme, therefore bolstering efforts for domestic resource mobilisation.
“In the main, Government will provide guarantees to the banks for them to lend to farmers on a commercial basis,” said the statement.
In 2016, Government initiated the Command Agriculture programme targeting maize production, with the objective to improve food security at both national and household levels.
In 2017, the programme was extended to wheat and soya beans and in 2018, it was further expanded to cover the livestock, fisheries and wildlife production sub sectors.
By A Correspondent- Zimbabwe Stock Exchange (ZSE)-listed Cassava Smartech Zimbabwe Limited, a subsidiary of Strive Masiyiwa’s Econet Wireless, has threatened a complete shutdown of its EcoCash platform if the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) insists on its ban on cash-in, cash-out transactions effected on Monday.
The RBZ on Monday effectively put 50 000 EcoCash agents out of work after banning cash-in and cash-out services accusing them of “engaging in illegal activities”, including selling cash at a premium.
The ban curiously came after Masiyiwa last week said the RBZ should take the blame for starving the market of cash, creating opportunities for arbitrage.
The central bank has also banned the use of the cash-back service when customers pay with cards at point-of-sale machines, saying shops were no longer banking cash and abusing the facility.
The central bank claimed the move was part of government efforts to eradicate illicit transactions which it said were fuelling the galloping inflation and exchange rates.
But in response to the RBZ’s move, Cassava Smartech Zimbabwe Limited has, in turn, warned that there will be a complete shutdown of the EcoCash facility as a result of the unexpected ban.
“The applicant (Cassava Smartech Zimbabwe Limited) has already started to implement the directive with the result that there will be a total shutdown of the entire EcoCash system in the process. The directive was only communicated to the applicant in the afternoon of September 30, 2019,” Cassava’s lawyer Mzokuthula Mbuyisa said in his certificate of urgency.
“My view is that the directive is ultra vires section 10 of the National Payment System (NPS) Act in that the section empowers the RBZ to only act against the acts or omissions of a system or of the management board of the system, yet in the present case the abuse complained about is attributed to some customers of the applicant and not to the system of the applicant or the management board of the applicant.”
Mbuyisa’s affidavit is contained in the urgent chamber application that was filed yesterday at the High Court by Cassava’s chief executive officer Edmore Chibi seeking a temporary interdict to stop the central bank from implementing a ban on EcoCash’s cash-in, cash-out transactions. In his founding affidavit, Chibi accused the central bank of being discriminatory in the manner that the ban was carried out.
“In further alternative, I contend on behalf of the applicant (Cassava) that EcoCash has been discriminated against in preference to the RTGS [Real Time Gross Settlement] platform. Regarding the RTGS platform, the respondent (RBZ) has not banned any functionality that enables cash withdrawals and cash deposits. To prohibit cash withdrawals and cash deposits through the use of EcoCash only is thus discriminatory,” Chibi said.
According to the RBZ, the move to ban EcoCash’s cash-in, cash-out transactions was carried out in terms of the provisions of section 10 of the NPS Act, but Chibi argues that the directive is ultra vires the cited section.
“There is no wrong that is alleged to have been committed by EcoCash system or its management board. The annexure alleges wrongdoing on the part of some agents, not all of them or other innocent users of the system. Therefore, the kind of wrongdoing alleged by the respondent does not fall within the powers that respondent has under section 10 of the Act.”
Chibi further said EcoCash has played a critical role in facilitating transaction activity between Zimbabweans in circumstances of acute liquidity challenges, adding that the most important products, especially to the unbanked population that do not have ready access to banks, are the EcoCash’s cash-in and cash-out facilities.
“Some of these transactions are done to deal with life-saving situations. Pulling down EcoCash could, thus, mean loss of life, loss of opportunities that could save livelihoods, and financial loss running into hundreds of millions, if not billions. The shutdown of these facilities will also deprive the applicant and those of its agents that are innocent of revenue running into millions of dollars,” Chibi said.
The chief executive officer further urged the court to rule in his firm’s favour, arguing that it cannot be punished alongside the wrongdoers.
“The case of the innocent EcoCash user is much stronger than that of the good wheat crop that was saved from the risk of being uprooted by mistake in Matthew 13:24-43, where the master, in rejecting the request by his servants to pull up the weeds, said: ‘No, if you pull up the weeds, you might uproot the wheat along with them’,” he said.
By A Correspondent- A City woman’s marriage is at the brink of collapse after her boyfriend leaked nud_e pictures of them together when she ended the affair.
The local tabloid, H-Metro reports that Temptation Mugwenhi who is married to Gladyman Gurupirai who works in South Africa is entangled in a nasty fall out with her boyfriend Zondai Zuze.
Taking advantage of her husband’s absence, Mugwenhi is alleged to have been having an affair with Zuze for over a year and only recently ended the affair following her husband’s return.
Mugwenhi who works as a teller at a supermarket in Highfield told the publication that Zuze was sending their nud_e pictures to her superiors at work, her husband and to the media in an attempt to punish her with revenge p0rn0graphy.
“My husband is back from South Africa, so I told Zuze that we must stop but he won’t have any of that.
“The man he saw me with is not my other boyfriend as he is alleging, but my husband. “Ndakamuti ngatimbomira but haasikuda, Zuze came to our house and started beating up people, akatorova vanhu nezuro and nyaya yake iri kupolice kutaura kuno.
”What angers me most is that I took care of him with the money my husband sent for my upkeep but he is just ungrateful and now wants to expose me.
“He is just a bitter someone who cannot move on with his life, akuramba kurambwa and I have bruises from his beatings,” said Mugwenhi.
Contacted for comment, Zuze alleged that Mugwenhi lied to him that she was not married.
“I have been with Temptation for almost one year three months and we were now having unprotected se_x because I had grown to love her that much but I later discovered she was married to a man who works in South Africa.
“I confronted her over the issue and she told me she has since separated with him on the grounds that he no longer takes care of the family or buys food.
“She has even gone to the extent of dating other men and a few days ago akandidhumhanisa,” said Zuze.
Efforts to contact Gurupira were in vain since his phone was not reachable.
Mugwenhi and Gurupira are blessed with two children.
Jane Mlambo| A GoFundMe campaign has been opened for Patience Nyangove, a Zimbabwean journalist who died in Namibia early this week, with the hope of raising USD3000 towards repatriating her body back home.
Nyangove who was working in Namibia was hospitalised for months suffering from brain infection.
According to the message on the campaign posted by Sandra Mandizvidza, the funding will help the repatriation of her body from Namibia to Zimbabwe and also assist with support to her son.
“Prominent Confidante journalist Patience Nyangove is no more. The Zimbabwean born journalist has been hospitalised at Windhoek hospital over the past months after doctors detected a brain infection. Until the time of her demise , she has been a journalist at The Confidente Newspaper in Namibia.
“A top-drawer reporter covering health, hard news, investigative and feature writing, Patience has over 15 years work experience in the print industry. Her journalism career began in Zimbabwe where she worked for the AMH Media holdings which publishes The Standard, News Day and The Zimbabwe Independent. She has also worked in South Africa and had stints with the Mail and Guardian, among others before joining Informante Newspaper around 2009, in Windhoek.
“Lately Patience has been juggling between a full time job at The Confidente and academy studies at the university of Namibia where she was completing her studies towards an Honours Degree in Public Management.
“She was a single mother and has left a young son behind, May Her Soul Rest In Peace.”
By A Correspondent- Zimbabwe’s prisons are now regarded as some of the best in terms of inmates welfare and human rights, the International Confederation of Red Cross (ICRC) reportedly revealed.
A report by the state media claimed that speaking to journalists in Gweru last week, ICRC representative Mr Hilton Zvidzayi said Zimbabwe Prisons and Correctional Service had implemented reforms prescribed by Red Cross in prisons during a training programme to improve the welfare of inmates.
Mr Zvidzayi said ICRC has since weaned ZPCS off its programme following full compliance by Government and prison authorities.
“Zimbabwe prisons are some of the best ones in Southern Africa. We engaged ZPS to improve on the welfare of prisoners and we are happy that we trained them and now they are on their own. We are very happy with the tremendous progress in prisons.
“We had access to every corner of prisons and we had one-on-one interviews with prisoners in the absence of prison officers or authorities. We also trained them on humanitarian law. As we speak in terms of food we have prisons such as Khami Prison which is now assisting other prisons in the country. We are happy that Zimbabwean authorities are very compliant,” he said.
Mr Zvidzayi said ICRC is also engaging Zimbabwe Republic Police and Zimbabwe Defence Forces on humanitarian law and protection of civilians.
By A Correspondent- Police in Bulawayo are appealing for information that may assist in the location of two women from Pumula North suburb aged 34 and 22 who were last seen in August this year.
Ms Grace Ndlovu (34) was last seen on August 27 while Ms Prudence Nobesuthu Ncube went missing on August 22.
The two are not related.
In a statement, Bulawayo provincial police spokesperson Inspector Abednico Ncube appealed to members of the public to help in locating the missing persons.
“Police in Bulawayo are appealing for information that may assist in the location of a missing person, Grace Ndlovu a female aged 34 who went missing on August 27 this year. Ms Ndlovu was last seen wearing a white polo neck, black track bottom and a blue sunhat,” said Insp Ncube.
He said Ms Ndlovu is light in complexion, slim built about 1.5 metres tall, has black eyes and black hair.
“Meanwhile we are also appealing for information that will help us locate Prudence Nobesuthu Ncube, a female aged 22 who went missing on August 22 this year. She was last seen wearing a maroon jacket, a pair of black jeans and a pair of cream lady pumps,” he said.
Insp Ncube said Ms Ncube is light in complexion, slim built and 1.3 metres tall.
“Prudence also has brown eyes and black hair. Anyone with information regarding the whereabouts of the two women may contact ZRP Pumula on 0292- 422907 or Elizabeth Dongora on 0776 708 612 or any nearest police station,” added Insp Ncube.
By A Correspondent- Mugabe’s sister Regina Gata told mourners that the late leader’s widow Grace had foiled plans by people who wanted to use her brother’s body for rituals.
Gata showered her late brother’s widow Grace with praises for her heroic stance and commitment to the wishes of her late husband Robert Mugabe adding that she defended his body to the grave.
She said:
“She (Grace) stood as a hero and said she would not betray him even on his death bed.
She took care of him in life and death and defended his body so that nobody could defile it.
There are others who wanted to do traditional things on it, but we stood firm and said no.”
Gata however said the decision to bury Mugabe at his rural home was not done by his widow but the family who simply wanted to respect Mugabe’s wish where he had indicated that he did not want to be buried at the National Heroes Acre.
Added Gata:
“They simply respected the wishes of a dead person, this is not their doing and I am here to vindicate them.”
The late president’s relatives claimed there were people that wanted to “defile” the 95-year-old’s body for ritual purposes.
Mugabe’s family decided to bury him in Kutama after initially agreeing that his remains be interred at the Heroes Acre in Harare.
A mausoleum was already being constructed at the national shrine.
At the burial site in Kutama, which is in his homestead’s courtyard, the family tightened security and a top engineering firm was hired to secure the grave. Angle iron screens and toughened locks were installed to seal the entire house which was built by Mugabe’s first wife, Sally.
Initially journalists and other mourners were prevented from accessing the burial site. They were only given access during the burial late in the afternoon.
Insiders said the grave was cast with thick concrete, lined with stainless steel plates and reinforced with steel.
“The high security is premised on the grounds that we fear there are people who want to steal his body for ritual purposes and we are just basically taking precautions,” a member of the Mugabe family said.
The Zimbabwe Electricity Transmission and Distribution Company (ZETDC) has applied to the Zimbabwe Energy Regulatory Authority (ZERA) for an electricity tariff increment to allow it to improve electricity generation, procure critical spares for maintenance and electricity imports to reduce load-shedding.
The tariff application has been made in terms of Section 53(2) of the Electricity Act (Chapter 13:19) of 2002.
In statement ZETDC said; “The current tariff of ZWLc38,61/ kWh has been severely eroded due to the movement of macroeconomic fundamentals. Therefore viability and service delivery has been compromised.
“Local electricity production has been negatively impacted by the low water levels in Lake Kariba which have restricted power production to a current average capacity of 190MW at the Kariba power station against an installed capacity of 1 050MW.”
By A Correspondent- Government has, with immediate effect, increased fines for criminal offences by up to 200 percent in a new scale of fines announced in terms of the Finance Act and the Criminal Law (Codification and Reform) Act.
The new fines were published in the Government Gazette under Statutory Instrument 209 of 2019 (Criminal Law Codification and Reform Act) (Standard Scale of Fines) Notice, 2019.
According to the new figures, an accused person will now pay a minimum of $40 admission of guilt fine for Level One offences from a previous charge of $20 and a maximum of $$30 000 for Level 14 offences from $10 000.
Fines in Level One are for minor offences while Level 14 for serious offences carries the highest amount.
“The Minister of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs in consultation with the Minister of Finance, in terms of section 280 of the Criminal Law (Codification and Reform) Act, Chapter 9:23 as read with section 24(1) of the Finance (No.2) Act, 2019, hereby make the following notice: standard scale of fines level 1 is $40, level 2 is $60, level 3 is $100, level 4 is $300, level 5 is $600, level 6 is $1 200, level 7 is $2 400, level 8 is $3 600, level 9 is $4 800, level 10 is $6 000, level 11is $7 500, level 12 is $9 000, level 13 is $15 000, level 14 is $30 000,” read the S1 209/19.
Section 35 of the Finance Act reviewed Levels 1, 2 and 3 of the standard scale of fines in the Criminal Law Code with effect from January 1, 2017.
In January this year, the police increased the maximum fine for traffic offences to $700 or imprisonment for a period not exceeding 12 months.
Announcing the increase last December, Finance Minister Professor Mthuli Ncube said the increase was meant to promote a road safety culture by adhering to road traffic regulations and act as a deterrent to criminal behaviour.
Recently, the Government increased tariffs of court fees by over 150 percent, a development that has seen marriage licence fees increasing to $100 and liquor licence applications going up to $1 500. The increases are contained in Statutory Instrument 188 of 2019 (Magistrates Court (Civil) (Amendment) Rules, 2019 (No.1). The Minister of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Ziyambi Ziyambi said his ministry was in the process of reviewing all fees to make them relevant to the economic environment.
By A Correspondent- Ecocash agents in Harare have reportedly started charging a staggering 100% to patrons looking for hard cash from them.
The agents are using ZIPIT, merchant lines, personal lines etc to perform cash-out transactions.
One small business owner who confided to a WhatsApp group where Pricecheck is a participant said:
For small businesses like mine which require hard cash, we rely on those Rogue Ecocash Agents. Banning Cash out has worsened the situation, where I had to pay an extra 35% commission to get my cash via cash out, the agents are now requiring 100 % i.e if i send him $100 into his Ecocash wallet or Zipit account he gives me $50 in hard cash…
Its reported people are charging 100% for notes and 80% for coins. The situation was exasperated by the RBZ ban on mobile cash-in and cash-out transactions.
Lunch with Grace Mugabe but no to tea with Helen Zille
Paul Nyathi|EFF leader Julius Malema who recently had a huge lunch with former First Lady Grace Mugabe at her Blueroof Residence, has rejected an invitation from fellow South African opposition, the former Western Cape premier Helen Zille to discuss the future of SA.
On Tuesday, TimesLIVE reported that Zille invited Malema to be a guest on her podcast Tea with Helen “for a no-holds barred discussion on SA’s future prospects”.
This after fans on social media were given the power to vote between former president Thabo Mbeki and Malema as the next guest — and Juju was the winner.
The EFF has gone to the mountains claiming that Juju’s lunch discussions with Grace Mugabe made the former first family dump National Heroes Acre burial for late former President Robert Mugabe.
Mugabe was buried in Zvimba allegedly as per his death bed wishes which Malema pushed that they be respected.
Hi there @Julius_S_Malema. I would like to invite you as a guest on my podcast #TeaWithHelen for a no-holds-barred discussion on SA's future prospects. My diary is quite flexible, so you name the date, time and place. I'll serve the tea. Looking forward to your response.
Paul Nyathi|Zimbabwe President Emerson Mnangagwa on Tuesday hinted at further policy measures aimed at addressing cash shortages and financial distortions.
President Emerson Mnangagwa
Mnangagwa said in his State of the Nation Address the country would set up an alternative stock market for small enterprise companies and allow companies to independently import fuel.
“The government is fully aware of the challenges faced by the public in accessing cash, which has resulted in some unscrupulous traders selling cash in exchange for electronic money,” Mnangagwa said.
The address also came a week after authorities froze bank accounts of companies alleged to have been involved in black market foreign exchange dealings.
Meanwhile, the opposition MDC has told Mnangagwa that he is wasting people’s time making commitments he will never fulfil.
The opposition party lawmakers walked out of parliament as soon as Mnangagwa began his address.
Watch MDC National Chairperson Thabitha Khumalo blast Mnangagwa for his hopeless promises.
State Media|GOVERNMENT is disturbed by moves by the United States to frustrate wildlife trophy hunting in Zimbabwe and is engaging Washington over the matter, a senior official said yesterday.
The United States is in the process of promulgating an anti-trophy hunting law called ‘Cecil Act’ purportedly inspired by the killing of Cecil the lion at Hwange National Park by an American millionaire dentist, Walter Palmer, in 2015.
The killing of the globally famous lion sparked worldwide outrage.
The Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Environment, Tourism and Hospitality Industry, Mr Munesu Munodawafa, revealed Government’s frustrations at Matopo National Park during the launch of the country’s Rapid Response Guide (RRG) toolkit on wildlife crimes yesterday.
A local non-governmental organisation that advocates for protection of animals, Speak for Animals, spearheaded the formulation of the toolkit with the involvement of stakeholders in various Government departments.
Mr Munodawafa said the US congress recently invited Government to make its presentation on the proposed law and Harare is still negotiating with Washington to understand its implications.
“The background of the law is that there was a lion called Cecil which was shot in Hwange National Park under circumstances that are well documented. Now what has since happened is that the American government is coming up with what they call the Cecil Act. The long and short of what is happening is that they are saying we need to protect certain species and for that to happen the effect of the law will be to prohibit the movement of trophies to America whether by airplanes going to America or even to prohibit the American hunters from coming here. That would be the effect of that law,” he said.
Mr Munodawafa said Zimbabwe’s tourism industry thrives on wildlife conservancy and the proposed law would negatively affect conservation efforts.
He said the country benefits from controlled trophy hunts as revenues generated are used for anti-poaching mechanisms.
Mr Munodawafa said if the Cecil Act sails through, the country would regress on progress it has made in fighting wildlife crimes as Government cannot fund conservation efforts from its coffers.
“On average the operational budget, just the operational budget for national parks, is plus or minus US$30 million and that money has been coming in from various activities like sport hunting. That is why we even fight the issue of the ban on ivory trade. If you look at it, ivory has been banned, trading in live elephants has effectively been banned, now they are moving to cut off trophies for buffaloes, for lions, for anything they are closing all the sources of revenue,” he said.
Speaking at the same event, acting deputy Prosecutor General Mr Innocent Mutsonziwa said it was curious that the Cecil law is being crafted after an American sparked global outrage by killing the famous lion.
“The law which is being crafted to deprive Zimbabwe and other African countries of benefiting from their wildlife is coming from the same country where that person (who killed Cecil) came from. So, as a thinker you must think big and say what was the plan. Was it just a coincidence or it was a well-planned thing that we do this and after so many years then we tie this country down so that it doesn’t develop? It can’t use its resources. These are things that those with huge imaginations should think about,” said Mr Mutsonziwa.
President Mnangagwa recently revealed that the country is considering pulling out of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) as it prevents Zimbabwe from benefiting from ivory stocks worth US$600 million.
GOVERNMENT has, with immediate effect, increased fines for criminal offences by up to 200 percent in a new scale of fines announced in terms of the Finance Act and the Criminal Law (Codification and Reform) Act.
The new fines were published in the Government Gazette under Statutory Instrument 209 of 2019 (Criminal Law Codification and Reform Act) (Standard Scale of Fines) Notice, 2019.
According to the new figures, an accused person will now pay a minimum of $40 admission of guilt fine for Level One offences from a previous charge of $20 and a maximum of $$30 000 for Level 14 offences from $10 000.
Fines in Level One are for minor offences while Level 14 for serious offences carries the highest amount.
“The Minister of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs in consultation with the Minister of Finance, in terms of section 280 of the Criminal Law (Codification and Reform) Act, Chapter 9:23 as read with section 24(1) of the Finance (No.2) Act, 2019, hereby make the following notice: standard scale of fines level 1 is $40, level 2 is $60, level 3 is $100, level 4 is $300, level 5 is $600, level 6 is $1 200, level 7 is $2 400, level 8 is $3 600, level 9 is $4 800, level 10 is $6 000, level 11is $7 500, level 12 is $9 000, level 13 is $15 000, level 14 is $30 000,” read the S1 209/19.
Section 35 of the Finance Act reviewed Levels 1, 2 and 3 of the standard scale of fines in the Criminal Law Code with effect from January 1, 2017.
In January this year, the police increased the maximum fine for traffic offences to $700 or imprisonment for a period not exceeding 12 months.
Announcing the increase last December, Finance Minister Professor Mthuli Ncube said the increase was meant to promote a road safety culture by adhering to road traffic regulations and act as a deterrent to criminal behaviour.
Recently, the Government increased tariffs of court fees by over 150 percent, a development that has seen marriage licence fees increasing to $100 and liquor licence applications going up to $1 500. The increases are contained in Statutory Instrument 188 of 2019 (Magistrates Court (Civil) (Amendment) Rules, 2019 (No.1). The Minister of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Ziyambi Ziyambi said his ministry was in the process of reviewing all fees to make them relevant to the economic environment.
A ZIMBABWE Revenue Authority (Zimra) employee stationed at Plumtree Border Post has been arrested on charges of defrauding his employer of over US$430 000 and over $1,4 million.
Norest Ushe (29) was not asked to plead to fraud charges when he appeared before Bulawayo magistrate Shepherd Mjanja.
On Monday, Ushe had filed an application for bail and the matter was remanded to yesterday. Yesterday, the magistrate postponed the ruling to today.
The court was told that in May 2017, Ushe was working at a private import section responsible for clearance of private goods before he was changed to a section where he was responsible for scanning goods.
It is the State’s case that in February 2019, while working at private imports section, he was issued with an SAP password which enabled him to capture, view and print customs clearance certificates in the Zimra system.
Ushe allegedly fraudulently entered 50 vehicles into the Zimra system and the authority lost potential revenue in the form of unpaid duty amounting to US$432 767,54 for 39 vehicles and $1 469 791,58 for 11 vehicles.
It is alleged that when the anomaly was discovered, Ushe was found in possession of fake customs clearance certificates and customs clearance certificate printouts on bond paper.
Five motor vehicles were also recovered and Ushe was allegedly found in possession of a Zimra date stamp allegedly used in the commission of the crime.
Ushe is alleged to have forged customs clearance certificates, endorsed them with used serial numbers printed on bond paper and used to register and licence such vehicles without paying duty.
Mirror|A stowaway who had desperately clung to a plane as it took off from a West Africa airport was found frozen to death when it landed in Morocco.
The Royal Air Maroc flight AT526 had taken off from Conakry, the capital of Guinea, and was bound for Morocco on September 30, with connecting passengers then travelling onto France.
His limp, lifeless body was discovered early on Monday morning by ground staff at Casablanca’s Mohammed V airport.
The man’s desperate attempt at illegal immigration proved immediately fatal as authorities believe he most likely did not survive the take off from Conakry. Temperatures at high altitude can plummet to as low as -63C (-81F).
A stowaway who had desperately clung to a plane as it took off from a West Africa airport is believed to have died during the ascent.His limp, lifeless body was discovered early on Monday morning by on-the-ground staff at Casablanca airport in Mohammed V airport
Connecting passengers arrived at Paris Orly Airport to find their luggage had not made it through to France, and claim they are still waiting to get it back.
A heartbreaking video shows the man’s body hanging from the plane’s landing gear compartment while airport staff stand on the runway observing the scene.
A passenger said she had been ‘shocked’ to find out what had happened during her flight.
Camille Sarazin, from Paris, France, visited Conakry on a business trip and had been on the return leg of her journey.
‘I was shocked to find out what happened during the flight,’ she told MailOnline.
‘I didn’t know people tried to leave their country that way. It’s very dangerous.
‘I feel very sad for him and his family.’
Connecting passengers arrived at Paris Orly Airport to find their luggage had not made it through to France, and claim they are still waiting to get it backA passenger said she had been ‘shocked’ to find out what had happened during her flight
Ms Sarazin said passengers were unaware of the incident and were not informed as to why their luggage had not made it through to their final destination.
‘When I arrived in Paris, my luggage was missing, as well as the luggage of all the passengers arriving from Guinea – I’m still waiting for it,’ she said.
‘A friend from Conakry later texted me an article. Apparently a man died during take off at Conakry airport after trying to leave the country illegally.’
She added that the incident had made her question airport security measures after the man had managed to attach himself onto the plane without staff noticing.
This is not the first time stowaways have been killed after hiding themselves on a plane.
In June, a dead stowaway fell from a Heathrow-bound flight into a south London garden.
The man is thought to have frozen to death in the wheel arch of the Kenyan Airways flight before plunging 3,500ft. Kenyan officials said the man was most likely an airport worker who used his pass to skirt security.
The corpse landed just 3ft away from Oxford graduate John Baldock as he was sunbathing in the garden of his house in Clapham.
Figures from the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) show that between January 2004 and March 2015, six stowaways were found on aircraft at UK airports.
Hiding in an aircraft’s undercarriage proves fatal in an estimated three out of four cases.
Risks include being crushed by landing gear, dying from oxygen deprivation in the unpressurised wheel well, or freezing to death as temperatures can drop to as low as -63C (-81F) as a plane ascends, causing hypothermia.
Those who survive the ascent risk falling to their deaths when the landing gear compartment is opened for landing.
The plight of migrants trying to reach Europe by sea is also a desperate one, with new figures showing more than 1,000 migrants having died in the Mediterranean Sea this year.
This marks the sixth year in a row that that ‘bleak milestone’ has been reached, the United Nations refugee agency said on Tuesday.
‘UNHCR is urgently calling for an increase in search and rescue capacity, including a return of EU state vessels to search and rescue operations, and an acknowledgement of the crucial role of NGO boats in saving lives at sea,’ UNHCR spokesman Charlie Yaxley said in a statement.
At least 15,000 people have lost their lives in Mediterranean crossings since 2014, the U.N.’s International Organization for Migration (IOM) said.
The Zimbabwe Electricity Transmission and Distribution Company (ZETDC) has applied to the Zimbabwe Energy Regulatory Authority (ZERA) for an electricity tariff increment to allow it to improve electricity generation, procure critical spares for maintenance and electricity imports to reduce load-shedding.
The tariff application has been made in terms of Section 53(2) of the Electricity Act (Chapter 13:19) of 2002.
In statement ZETDC said; “The current tariff of ZWLc38,61/ kWh has been severely eroded due to the movement of macroeconomic fundamentals. Therefore viability and service delivery has been compromised.
“Local electricity production has been negatively impacted by the low water levels in Lake Kariba which have restricted power production to a current average capacity of 190MW at the Kariba power station against an installed capacity of 1 050MW.”
A leading poll watchdog organisation, the Election Resource Centre (ERC) has filed a case against the President of the National Chiefs Council, Chief Fortune Charumbira, who has defied the court, failing to renounce his statements supporting the ruling party in contravention of the Constitution.
On May 9, 2018 the High Court of Zimbabwe gave an order against the President of the National Chiefs’ Council, Chief Fortune Charumbira instructing him to retract statements he made on October 28 and December 20, 2017 in support of a political party in contravention of Section 281 (2) of the Constitution.
The order was secured after a successful application by the ERC against the President of the National Chiefs’ Council, the National Chiefs’ Council and the Minister of Local Government, National Housing and Public Works.
“Given the clear disregard for the court order by the respondents, the ERC has been left with no other choice but to file a criminal case with the police against the President of the Chiefs’ Council for purposes of upholding the integrity of the court and that of electoral democracy in Zimbabwe,” Tawanda Chimhini, the organisation’s director said in a statement on Tuesday.
Chimhini said up to date Charumbira has remained adamant to the High Court ruling.
“To date, the court order stands ignored despite spirited efforts by the ERC to engage all parties involved to act in compliance with it,” said Chimhini.
Chimhini added that the High Court order reinforces constitutional provisions whose enforcement would contribute towards positively responding to calls for electoral reforms following questions raised about the 2018 harmonised elections.
ERC, a think tank and advocacy institution on elections and democracy in Zimbabwe, vowed to leave no unturned in its quest to improve the quality of future elections in the Southern country.
“The ERC affirms its commitment to exhausting all remedies available in Zimbabwe to improve the quality of future elections,” Chimhini said.
Senior Zimbabwean doctors have given the government 24 hours to increase their salaries and provide essential services at state hospitals, saying they are too incapacitated to perform their duties as junior doctors are on strike while nurses and other workers are reporting for duty only two or three days a week.
They are threatening to down their tools on Thursday if the government does not address their grievances.
In a memo written to the Ministry of Health and copied to all relevant authorities, the doctors said the government ignored their concerns following a meeting they held with state officials last month.
“No effort has been taken to address any of our concerns, giving the impression that there is no interest on the part of the Government to address those concerns. In this regard, we need not remind you of the State’s obligations in terms of sections 65 and 76 of the Constitution of Zimbabwe as well as Article 12 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights as read with Article 12 (a) to (d) of General Comment No. 14 of 2000.”
The doctors said there are no basic requirements for the attainment of the right to health in Zimbabwe.
They said health service delivery requires a full complement of medical professionals such as consultants, senior registrars, junior doctors, nurses and other allied health professionals.
“At present, due to their incapacitation, nurses and other allied health professionals are coming to work for 2-3 days per week, as per ministry directive, while junior doctors are completely incapacitated. This creates unbearable pressure on the senior hospital doctors in terms of the work load. It is for this reason that we scaled down our operation to the provision of only emergency hospital services.”
They noted that state hospitals do not have adequate stocks of essential medicines and sundries particularly in critical areas such as Casualty, Maternity, Neonatal Units, High Dependency and Intensive Care Units as well as theatres.
According to the doctors, medical equipment and machinery keep breaking down. Diagnostic services, especially laboratory and radiological, are erratic and not in keeping with the requirements for patient care and there are perennial stock-outs of reagents.
“Without a full complement of medical personnel necessary for the management of a patient’s health, and without the necessary tools of trade such as essential and critical drugs, machinery and other essentials, we cannot conscientiously pretend to be offering acceptable and quality healthcare when all that we are doing is to walk with patients to a certain slow death due to a failing health care system. We are incapacitated and cannot continue working like this.
“Our conditions of service are appalling and disgraceful to say the least. Our remuneration is not in line with comparative remuneration trends regionally. South African senior hospital doctors are paid an average of ZAR80 000 – ZAR 120 000 per month. In our situation senior medical doctors are paid a basic salary of less than RTGS500.00 while Consultants receive a basic salary of RTGS 1010.00.”
They said the salaries are a pittance which does not take into account the rising cost of living, which sees the entire basic salary of a senior medical doctor as barely adequate to fuel up a small vehicle to get the same doctor to go to work.
“As it stands, our remuneration is neither commensurate with our skills and services and also out of touch with our lived realities in terms of the costs of basic goods and services. We are thus incapacitated from continuing to come to work as our remuneration has been eroded by the ever-rising cost of living. We have a right to be able to practice our profession in a manner that allows us to fulfil our professional responsibilities to patients and society.”
The doctors stressed that they also have a right to practice ethically and in an environment that allows them to practice legally and in accordance with professional standards. They added that they “have the right to advocate for ourselves, to receive fair compensation for our services, to perform our duties in safe working environment and to negotiate our working conditions and compensation levels. As a profession, we have been patiently negotiating our conditions of service with the Employer for years. Unfortunately, the Employer has not been forthcoming.
“In the circumstances, and on account of your failure to address or at least respond to our concerns as summarised above, we are left with no option but to openly declare our incapacitation. It is with a heavy heart we hereby inform you that with effect from Thursday 03 October 2019 at 0800hrs, we shall not be able to continue reporting for duty until the causes of our incapacitation have been addressed by you.”
Paul Nyathi|In the coming days, you will not be allowed to forward a WhatsApp message more than five times to another WhatsApp user or group.
The most popular messaging platform, made this announcement after it received a couple of complaints about forwarded messages being used to spread false information and inciting the members of the public.
The social platform has made it easier for users to send messages through the forwarding feature, but some users have abused this feature, and have instead used it to send messages without verifying nor changing incisive words.
According to a report by The Guardian, a forwarded message does not reveal the identity of the original source, and this has led to unaccountability, and spiteful messages have spread virally to influence people negatively.
India, which is deemed as the largest market for WhatsApp (having 200 million users), experienced mob killings which according to reports, were caused due to the widespread of unverified and forwarded WhatsApp messages.
With a total of 2.5 billion users worldwide, WhatsApp joins other renowned social media platforms in ensuring that the content that reaches the public is regulated.
Twitter, on the other hand, introduced a regulation where offensive messages are hidden and the account of the source is suspended from the platform for a certain period of time.
The twitter users (audiences in this case) are then provided with an option that warns against the hidden content, with the decision of opening the content being left to the user.
Whereas the WhatsApp forwarding policy targets every user, regardless of their societal status, the twitter policy mostly targets individuals of higher influence on society.
Government officials, those candidates seeking public offices, users who have their accounts verified and those with 100,000 followers and more are the ones most targeted.
The notification reads, “The twitter rules about abusive behavior apply to this tweet. However, twitter has determined that it may be in the public’s interest in the tweet to remain available…” but then it gives an option.
Paul Nyathi|The Trump administration on Tuesday announced it is stopping imports of clothing, gold, diamonds and other items believed to have been produced with forced labor by companies based in Brazil, China and Malaysia as well as some gold mined in eastern Congo and diamonds from Marange in Zimbabwe.
An official at U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Brenda Smith, said her agency issued orders to immediately detain the goods at U.S. ports of entry for further investigation. The move comes amid a wide-ranging trade dispute between the U.S. and China, which has led to new tariffs on hundreds of billions of dollars’ worth of goods.
Smith says the “message here is that one of the ways the U.S. and China can collaborate together is to ensure that forced labor is not used.”
She said the companies can re-export the detained shipments or submit information to show they’re legal.
The companies sanctioned are Bonechar Carvão Ativado Do Brasil Ltda; Hetian Taida Apparel Co., Ltd. in Xinjiang, China and WRP Asia Pacific Sdn. Bhd. in Malaysia. The action also covers gold mined at small artisan mines in eastern Congo and rough diamonds from the Marange diamond fields in Zimbabwe.
Zimbabwe’s government in a statement called the U.S. decision “a blatant and shameless lie.” The Marange region was in the spotlight a decade ago over alleged army killings of artisanal miners and forced labor. The fields are now commercially mined though the country through the years failed to meet Human Rights Watch recommendations on clean mining of the diamonds.
Nigeria News Agencies|Femi Olorunsoromidayo, a Pastor of Mount Zion Church in Oke-Aro area of Ondo state of Nigeria, reportedly died while conducting a funeral service for one of his members.
The 42-year-old founder of Divine Mount Zion Gospel Ministry was said to have died during the burial service of a 78-year-old church member, Mr Samuel Rotimi, at Erusu in Akoko North West Local Government after receiving his corpse for funeral service in Akure.
A source said late Rotimi had before his death instructed the cleric that he should be buried at his residence in Akure as against his home town, Erusu-Akoko.
But after his death, the pastor reportedly acted against the wish of the deceased with the support of the member’s immediate family members.
Also, the head of the deceased family at Erusu-Akoko was said to have instructed the cleric to move the burial plans to Erusu against the earlier instructions of the deceased.
A source said:
”Since the late pastor including his immediate family had limited authority over the burial plan, he arranged for an ambulance, which took the corpse to Erusu Akoko, alongside his family members and some church members.
“While the pastor was conducting the burial service at the cemetery, he started feeling uncomfortable after which he became unconscious before he was rushed to an undisclosed hospital in Akoko area,where he was confirmed dead.”
It was learnt that the ambulance, which conveyed the remains of the late church member to his home town in Erusu for burial, was also used to convey the corpse of the Pastor back to Akure.
The development was said to have created confusion within the church congregation and family members of the late cleric.
PRESIDENT Emmerson Mnangagwa, Tuesday honoured the late national hero and former leader, Robert Mugabe by observing a moment of silence before he began his State of the Nation Address (SONA).
The event coincided with the President’s official opening of the Second Opening of the Ninth Parliamentary session of Zimbabwe.
Mnangagwa requested legislators to rise for a brief meditation in celebration of the life of the late former President.
Mugabe died early September aged 95 in Singapore where he was receiving cancer treatment.
“Before I begin my address, I kindly request the August House to observe a minute of silence in honour of the late Founding Father of our country and Former President His Excellency, Comrade R. G. Mugabe who passed on, on the 6th of September 2019.
“As we remember him, let us stand emboldened by the fact that we cannot change the past, but the future is in our hands,” Mnangagwa said.
Mnangagwa deposed his predecessor, Mugabe in a November 2017 military coup and relations between the two former allies were strained since then.
Mugabe later referred to Mnangagwa as his “tormenter” and reportedly went on to instruct his immediate family that he would not have the latter who betrayed and insulted him pontificate over his funeral proceedings.
After government had several closed-door meetings with the late leader’s family they settled to have his remains interred at the National Heroes Acre in a state of the art mausoleum but in a surprise twist of events, Mugabe was on Saturday buried at his rural Zvimba home.
By Own Correspondent| Zimbabwe’s doctors are striking again at Harare’s Parirenyatwa Hospital this morning over remuneration and work conditions grievances. This comes at a time when their employer did not do anything to address their work complaints.
Announced Dr Bhebhe late last night, “Tomorrow (today) doctors in Harare will convene at Pari Hospital to stage another protest against poor wages
“The Hsb has not moved an inch to resolve the impasse. Officials there are watching & enjoying as the health system crumbles. We will be visiting their offices tomorrow(today).”
Paul Nyathi|In 2009, Human Rights Watch reported that Zimbabwe’s armed forces, under the control of then President Robert Mugabe’s Zimbabwe African National Union–Patriotic Front (ZANU-PF), were engaging in forced labor of children and adults and torturing and beating local villagers on the diamond fields of Marange district.
According to the report, the military seized control of these diamond fields in eastern Zimbabwe after killing more than 200 people in Chiadzwa, a previously peaceful but impoverished part of Marange, in late October 2008.
With the complicity of ZANU-PF, Marange became a zone of lawlessness and impunity, a microcosm of the chaos and desperation that currently pervade Zimbabwe.
The international body made hard hitting recommendations that Zimbabwe needed to adhere to for Marange Diamonds to be sold throughout the world.
Yesterday, the United States Of America blocked a batch of Zimbabwean diamonds from entering the country. The move has been met with a huge furore from the Zimbabwean government.
We publish below the full list of recommendations that were made by the Human Rights Watch Report that led to the action by the United States.
To the Government of Zimbabwe
Immediately end all human rights abuses in the Marange diamond fields, including killings, beatings, forced labor, child labor, and torture.
Remove the army from Marange district, demilitarize the diamond industry, and restore security responsibilities to the police, but ensure that the police abide by international law enforcement standards governing use of lethal force and illegal searches. Further to this, the government of Zimbabwe should, set up a local police oversight committee to monitor police compliance with basic human rights and international law enforcement standards.
Launch an impartial and independent investigation into alleged human rights abuses, smuggling of diamonds, and corruption. Hold accountable all soldiers and police implicated in these abuses, irrespective of their seniority.
End diamond smuggling, urgently resolve the outstanding legal questions of control and title to the Marange diamond fields, and ensure that only licensed miners are permitted to mine and that all buyers of diamonds are properly licensed in compliance with the requirements of the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme.
Fully cooperate with KPCS investigation teams or review missions and ensure full compliance with KPCS rules and requirements.
Put in place mechanisms to ensure greater revenue transparency from diamond mining and ensure that the Marange community benefits directly from the mining of diamonds in their area. This may be achieved by regularizing diamond mining to stem smuggling, licensing local miners, taxing them, and redistributing a portion of their revenue to the local community.
Ensure that, in the event that relocation of the local community around the diamond fields is found to be necessary and in the public interest, based on thorough consultation with affected communities, such relocation fully complies with national and international human rights standards.
To the Government of South Africa
Actively support calls for a broader inclusion of human rights in the mandate of the KPCS to ensure that any systematic human rights violations in the diamond industry of a KPCS participant result in that country’s suspension and ultimate expulsion from the KPCS.
As a member of the KPCS, and as chair of the Southern African Development Community (SADC), press for speedy reforms and policy changes that will stop the export of smuggled diamonds from Marange due to the serious human rights abuses involved. Urge Zimbabwe to comply with KPCS rules, including stopping all smuggling of Marange diamonds and ensuring that all diamonds that leave Zimbabwe are accompanied by authentic KPCS certificates.
Ensure that South Africa’s diamond industry is not tainted by diamonds from Marange and the human rights abuses taking place there. In this regard, exercise greater vigilance through the use of the KPCS “footprint”-a detailed description highlighting distinctive features-of smuggled Marange diamonds that would enable South Africa to more easily identify diamonds originating from Marange and stop them from entering its diamond market. South Africa should ensure that all diamonds imported and exported within its territory are accompanied by valid Kimberley Process certificates.
To the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme
Immediately investigate allegations of serious human rights abuses and smuggling of Marange diamonds outside Zimbabwe and any other violations of the Kimberley Process.
Immediately suspend Zimbabwe from participation in the KPCS until it satisfactorily addresses the violations set out in this report and puts in place genuinely effective and transparent measures to regulate its diamond industry, stop human rights abuses, and end smuggling.
Urgently review and broaden the definition of “conflict diamonds” or “blood diamonds” to include diamonds mined in the context of serious and systematic human rights abuses and develop an actionable response to KPCS members that commit these violations.
To States and Organizations that Are Major Consumers of Rough Diamonds, including the European Union, the United States, South Africa, the United Arab Emirates, and India
Support initiatives to speedily reform and broaden the mandate of the KPCS to include human rights concerns at the core of its mandate.
Highlight the human rights abuses occurring with respect to diamond mining in Marange and require that these abuses end immediately and that there be full accountability for previous human rights violations, including prosecutions of those responsible for unlawful killings, torture, and other serious crimes.
Support the suspension of Zimbabwe from the Kimberley Process until it rectifies rights abuses.
Demand greater transparency and accountability on the origin of diamonds, including whether ZANU-PF is using diamond mining as a parallel source of revenue, which would undermine good governance, transparency, and accountability in the inclusive power-sharing government.
Guard against the purchase of rough diamonds from Marange and exercise greater vigilance through the use of the KPCS “footprint” of Marange diamonds, which enables buyers to more easily identify diamonds originating from Marange.
Take steps to inform consumers of polished diamonds that they should not buy, trade, or sell diamonds originating from sources in Marange, due to the serious human rights abuses taking place there.
To the Southern African Development Community
Call upon the new government of Zimbabwe to ensure respect for human rights and the rule of law in the Marange diamond fields and across the country.
Insist upon full accountability for perpetrators of human rights abuses in Marange and press for appropriate remedies for victims.
To International Donors, including the United States, the United Kingdom, and Other European Union Members
Continue to press the government of Zimbabwe to investigate and prosecute all responsible for human rights abuses and end the prevailing culture of impunity.
Urge the government of Zimbabwe to ensure wider accountability and restore the rule of law, not only in the Marange diamond fields but generally across Zimbabwe.
Ensure that development aid to Zimbabwe is tied to clear progress in promoting respect for human rights and ensuring justice for victims of abuses. Donor nations should set specific benchmarks and closely monitor Zimbabwe’s progress.
A man from Gwanda has appeared in court for assaulting his wife and keeping her locked up in a house for two days following a misunderstanding over their maid.
