Farai Dziva|MDC deputy president Obert Gutu has bemoaned what he described as bias against African leaders at UN sessions.

“United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) sessions need to be urgently re-organized. I’m in the United States right now and I noticed that African leaders are never given prime time slots for their presentations. US President Donald Trump made his presentation early morning, Tuesday,”argued Gutu.

“Zimbabwe is an extremely blessed country because we managed to successfully dodge a bullet. I just can’t imagine what would have happened if we had failed to dodge a bullet. “

By A Correspondent| Tino Machakaire, a Zanu PF member of parliament who represents Wedza constituency in the National Assembly has dismissed Justice Mayor Wadyajena’s claim that Sakunda Holdings owner, Kuda Tagwirei has fled the country to Britain.

Writing on Twitter late on Thursday, Machakaire, who was pictured sitting beside Tagwirei, said they are in Kenya on their way to Zimbabwe.

Wrote Machakaire:

What does a child benefit from burning his father’s house? Kenya now enroute home. Zimbabwe is our HOME!!! #zimbabweourhome #homesweethome #ekhaya

Watch video downloading above

UPDATE ON THE BURIAL OF THE LATE FORMER PRESIDENT R. G. MUGABE.

The family of the late former President R. G. Mugabe has expressed its desire to proceed with his burial in Zvimba.

In line with Government policy to respect the wishes of families of deceased heroes, Government is cooperating with the Mugabe family in their new position.

Government will render all the necessary support to give the late former President a fitting burial as led by the family.

Thank you.
Statement issued by Nick Mangwana

By A Correspondent- Senior police officers are undergoing the Rebranding Refresher Course for Senior Officers Phase two at Morris Depot.

Speaking at the official opening ceremony of the refresher course on Wednesday, Commissioner-General of Police Godwin Matanga said:

I am convinced that developing people is cardinal and paramount in any organisation since at the end of the day we normally bet on people more that strategies to realise our goals and aspirations.

As the Zimbabwe Republic Police, we are seized with the nascent need to improve our services in order to ensure a safe and secure Zimbabwe.

In light of this, Zimbabwe Republic Police pledges to double its concerted efforts in ensuring sustainable peace and stability in the country.

It is not in dispute that as a people, we can only successfully market and lure substantial investment if we create a conducive environment which guarantees safety of both life and property.

-HMetro

By A Correspondent- A Zanu Pf Member of Parliament, Justice Mayor Wadyajena, said Kuda Tagwirei has fled Zimbabwe for the United Kingdom on a 10-year visa.

Wadyajena added that Tagwirei, who is linked to Sakunda Holdings and the controversial Command Agriculture programme, fled with his wife and children to Britain after he was denied a visa to the United States of America.

Writing on microblogging site Twitter on Thursday, Wadyajena said:

Kuda Tagwirei,@Trafigura’s affiliate flees to @UKinZimbabwe on 10yr visa with wife & kids after tip-off that ALL his shady accounts were to be frozen. Initial plan to run to US failed after being denied visa. This savage economic saboteur tried to bring Zim to its knees. Time is up.

By A Correspondent- Four family members allegedly ganged-up and a fatally assaulted their son in law over a domestic dispute with his wife.

Reason Maseko met his untimely death after paying a visit at his inlaws homestead in a bid to resolve a domestic dispute with his wife Rejoice Sibanda who had vacated their matrimonial home.

Upon arrival, the deceased was brutally assaulted by his mother in law Judith Sibanda and her three children, Talent, Yolanda and Rejoice.

Midlands provincial police spokesperson Inspector Joel Goko confirmed the incident.

”The deceased, Reason Maseko had a misunderstanding with his wife Rejoice Sibanda and she had to leave their homestead to her people. The deceased followed her to her family homestead.

When he got there, he met his brother-in-law Talent who was coming out of the hut. He alerted his mother Judith and Reason’s wife about the visitor. Reason was rescued by his father later on. The father was rescued by his father later on.

The father had followed to join in the discussion to solve the domestic dispute that arose at the deceased’s homestead. A report was made to Zhombe Police Station and officers attended the scene. The deceased was taken to Kwekwe General Hospital, but was pronounced dead on admission,” said Goko.

By A Correspondent| Inside sources have revealed intimate details regarding the secret burial ceremony of the late former president Robert Mugabe, that took place last week Tuesday.

A traditional burial ceremony was conducted in the wee hours of Tuesday morning at a hill cave on the outskirts of Zvimba.

The burial truly took place “but they buried some of Mugabe’s clothes and an animal hide (skin) according to the chiefs’ tradition,” a source told ZimEye.

The development comes against the backdrop of Mugabe’s nephew, Leo saying that there will be two different burials one of the real corpse and the other which is of “something else which is not the body,” as he stated.

The Mugabe burial has caused a lot of confusion as the family demands that he be privately buried in his rural area, Zvimba. Another paradox involving (two different coffins and) a counterfeit corpse has however added to the mystery of the former Zimbabwean leader.

The latest development has resulted in the government partially giving up to the demands.

Said the Permanent Secretary in the Information ministry, Nick Mangwana:

“The family of the late former President R. G. Mugabe has expressed its desire to proceed with his burial in Zvimba.

In line with Government policy to respect the wishes of families of deceased heroes, Government is cooperating with the Mugabe family in their new position.

Government will render all the necessary support to give the late former President a fitting burial as led by the family. Thank you.”

On Thursday afternoon the state issued a statement saying they were now handing over everything to the family’s wishes. But at the time of going to print (7pm) the family was still being blocked from carrying the coffin to Zvimba with police and military officers remaining stationed at Mugabe’s Blue Roof residence into the night.

This is a developing story. Refresh this page for latest updates.

 By A Correspondent- A 45-year-old man rues the day he injected vaseline to his manhood to make it bigger.

According to The Sun, the unnamed man from South Pacific Island went to the hospital after five days of suffering from an itchy sensation at the base of his 4-5.

He then noticed a significant build-up of fluid and ulcers on the shaft of his pe_nis, which were starting to rot and bleed.

According to the doctors, the patient was also feeling weak and suffering fevers.

He told doctors that he had self-injected vaseline into his shaft two years ago, in an attempt to boost his manhood size.

Writing in a journal published in Urology Case Reports, Dr Amer Amin said the man was an “unwell looking man” with high fevers.

He added that the penile shaft was “grossly deformed”, tender and had a serious build-up of fluid.

There were also small patches of visible rotting flesh and he was diagnosed with a condition called Fournier’s gangrene – a life-threatening “flesh-eating bug” of the genitals.

“Two years prior, he had self-administered Vaseline to the shaft of the penis in order to augment penile size.”

He was rushed into the operating theatre where surgeons removed the dead flesh and drained the pus-filled pockets along his shaft.

The man was taken to intensive care to recover ahead of further surgery planned for the next day.

In total, he needed three operations to remove all of the infected and rotted tissue – mostly involving the scrotum, docs said.

By his 10th day in hospital, his fevers had settled and his bloods had stabilised.

He was transferred to the plastic surgery team, who performed multiple skin grafts on his 4-5 and sc_rotum.

The man was allowed home from hospital after a month.

In his report on the case, Dr Amin, of St Vincent’s Hospital, Sydney, said: “A 45-year-old man from the South pacific islands was successfully treated with surgical debridement, intensive care unit admission and antibiotics after presenting to hospital with Fournier’s gangrene.

“Two years prior, he had self-administered Vaseline to the shaft of the penis in order to augment pe_nile size.”

-TheSun

Paul Nyathi|Sakunda Boss and President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s close aide Kuda Tagwirei has reportedly fled out of the country to the United Kingdom after the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe froze accounts linked to his various businesses. 

The claims come as speculation was getting rife that the Zimbabwe Anti Corruption Commission was closing in on arresting him.

The reports were published on Twiiter by Tagwirei’s long-time opponent Mayor Justice Wadyajena who said,

“Kuda Tagwirei, Trafigura’s affiliate flees to United Kingdom on 10year visa with wife and kids after tip-off that ALL his shady accounts were to be frozen. Initial plan to run to US failed after being denied visa. This savage economic saboteur tried to bring Zimbabwe to its knees. Time is up.”

The IMF mission had productive discussions with the Zimbabwean authorities related to the 2019 Article IV consultation and performance under the Staff Monitored Program.

In this context, the authorities have reiterated strong policy commitments to implement much-needed reforms to restore stability, strengthen social protection, meaningfully improve transparency, improve FX policies and the monetary policy framework, and lay the foundations for a sustainable job-creating growth path.

The authorities and staff both acknowledge the complex macroeconomic environment in which these reforms are being undertaken, with Zimbabwe facing the impact of a severe drought and its external arrears preventing access to traditional avenues of external financing.

Economic difficulties have continued throughout 2019, exacerbated by severe weather shocks. GDP growth in 2019 is expected to be steeply negative as the effects of drought on agricultural production and electricity generation, impact of cyclone Idai, and the significant fiscal consolidation to correct past excesses serve to drag on growth.

Social conditions have deteriorated sharply, with more than half of Zimbabwe’s population (8.5 million people) estimated by the UN to be food insecure in 2019/2020.

Weakening confidence, policy uncertainty, a continuation of FX market distortions, and a recent expansionary monetary stance has increased pressure on the exchange rate.

Since the February currency reform, the exchange rate has depreciated from USD 1:1 ZWL to USD 1:16.5 ZWL (as of September 23), fostering high inflation, which reached almost 300 per cent (year-over-year) in August.

Policy actions are urgently needed to tackle the root causes of economic instability and enable private-sector-led growth.

The key challenge is to contain fiscal spending consistent with non-inflationary financing and tighten monetary policy to stabilize the exchange rate and start rebuilding confidence in the national currency.

Risks to budget execution are high as demands for further public sector wage increases, quasi-fiscal activities of the RBZ that will need to be absorbed by the central government, and pressure to finance agriculture could push the deficit back into an unsustainable stance.

There is also a need to strengthen FX market operations and improve transparency on monetary statistics. These adjustment challenges are magnified by slow progress on international reengagement. Efforts will need to be intensified on both economic and political fronts to drive Zimbabwe forward.

The IMF staff and the authorities have agreed to maintain a close and continuous dialogue in the coming weeks on economic policies to restore economic stability while accommodating spending to alleviate food insecurity and protect vulnerable groups.

Our dialogue with the Zimbabwean authorities is anticipated to continue during the IMF and World Bank Annual Meetings, taking place October 14-20, 2019.

The team is grateful to the authorities for their frank and open discussions on economic policy options. The mission met with H.E. President E. Mnangagwa, Finance Minister M. Ncube, RBZ Governor J.P. Mangudya, other senior officials, members of Parliament, representatives of the private sector, civil society, and development partners.

The team wishes to thank the authorities and the staff of the MoFED and the RBZ for their warm hospitality and collaboration.

Paul Nyathi|The Zimbabwean government has given the family of the late former president Robert Mugabe a go ahead to bury him in Zvimba communal lands, Mashonaland West, instead of a so-called mausoleum being constructed at the National Heroes Acre.

Insider sources have passed an explanation on the secret Mugabe burial ceremony that took place last week Tuesday. A traditional burial ceremony was conducted in the wee hours of Tuesday morning at a hill cave on the outskirts of Zvimba.

The burial truly took place “but they buried some of Mugabe’s clothes and an animal hide (skin) according to the chiefs’ tradition,” a source told ZimEye.

The development comes against the backdrop of Mugabe nephew, Leo saying that there will be two different burials one of the real corpse and the other which is of “something else which is not the body,” as he stated.

Another paradox involving (two different coffins and) counterfeit corpses added to the confusion.

The Mugabe burial has caused a lot of confusion as the family demands that he be privately buried in his rural area, Zvimba.

The latest development has resulted in the government partially giving up to the demands. On Thursday afternoon the state issued a statement saying they were now handing over everything to the family’s wishes. But at the time of going to print (7pm) the family was still being blocked from carrying the coffin to Zvimba with police and military officers remaining stationed at Mugane’s Blue Roof residence into the night.

The weekend burial comes after very reliable Mugabe family sources early this week revealed to ZimEye.com that Mugabe was actually buried in Zvimba couple of days ago.

Details for the coming weekend burial coincide exactly with the details provided to ZimEye.com for last week’s burial. The sources even provided ZimEye.com with confidential video and picture evidence of where Mugabe was “buried” and is incidentally the same spot suggested for this weekend’s burial.

In a statement signed by Information Secretary, Nick Mangwana, the government said the family has a right to designate the burial place of the former Zimbabwean strongman, who died of cancer on September 6^th in Singapore.

“The family of the later former President R. G. Mugabe has expressed its desire to proceed with his burial in Zvimba. In line with government policy to respect the wishes of families of deceased heroes, government is cooperating with the Mugabe family in their new position.

“Government will render all the necessary support to give the late former president a fitting burial as led by the family.

Paul Nyathi|Reports just in indicate that Former First Lady Grace Mugabe had clashes with government officials as she was trying to ‘smuggle’ a coffin supposedly carrying the body of the late former president Robert Mugabe to Zvimba for “burial” while president Emmerson Mnangagwa is away.

Grace was met by an army of Zimbabwe Republic Police officers and other officials from the Ministry of Home Affairs who have the task of running the heroes’ funerals, a publication Zim Morning Post reported.

The Doves and Nyaradzo crews which were making way to leave the capital for Zvimba at Grace and the family’s instructions were met by police officers who stopped them in their tracks.

Government has since issued a statement clearing the family to go ahead with the burial which has left the nation extremely confused on the burial processes of the late dictator.

Close sources indicate that the funeral entourage has since left Harare for Zvimba.

More details to follow…

UPDATE ON THE BURIAL OF THE LATE FORMER PRESIDENT R. G. MUGABE.

The family of the late former President R. G. Mugabe has expressed its desire to proceed with his burial in Zvimba.

In line with Government policy to respect the wishes of families of deceased heroes, Government is cooperating with the Mugabe family in their new position.

Government will render all the necessary support to give the late former President a fitting burial as led by the family.

Thank you.
Statement issued by Nick Mangwana

Norton Member of Parliament Temba Mliswa says the freezing of bank accounts belonging to Sakunda, Croco motors, Spartan and other related companies will not stop the Zim dollar from weakening against the US dollar.

Said Mliswa, “Whether you like it or not, there’s only forex trading going on. Even if it’s stopped, where does money to pay suppliers come from? We don’t have an industry to speak of that’s manufacturing. This is where Smith was strong in having a productive industry supplying the local market.”

Mliswa added that the freezing of accounts will fuel the rise of black market and sabotage Command Agriculture.

“The only bank of note as being witnessed is the black market! Therefore, freezing accounts won’t stop the situation but more likely to exacerbate it. The rate will continue to climb so long as there’s forex scarcity. Production, production, production!!

“The rate seems to have returned to last Friday’s 23-25. The accounts of Sakunda, Croco, Access and Spartan Security remain frozen. What does this mean? It clearly means Mnangagwa was misled. It seems there’s an ulterior motive, a force behind sabotaging government programmes.

“You have a situation where suppliers are owed money, debtors have RTGS but no USD despite banking it. There’s no interbank forex available so they just accept the RTGS but go onto the market. Is it legal, no but it’s reality and for business continuance. Should it be a crime?

“We need to be honest and get to the bottom of this Mthuli Ncube or there’s no stop. We want to avoid those going to the street to buy basics. If prices are pegged in USD and sold at the rate of the day prices will increase. The scarcer the forex, the higher the rate.”

A second coffin has been lying in state at the house where only Mugabe’s latest number one blue eyed boy Julius Malema was allowed to take pictures standing next to.

Paul Nyathi|Following a highly disputed ZimEye.com exposè that Former President Robert Mugabe was buried at his rural Zvimba home last week, the Mugabe family has finally come out open on the matter but claiming that the former ZANU PF hardman will only be buried this weekend at the precise place mentioned by ZimEye.com.

Somewhat to conceal the exposè the fault revealed that Mugabe will only be buried this weekend with a private ceremony which certainly no-one will be able to confirm taking place.

According to the latest revelation, Mugabe’s body was expected to leave his Borrowdale Blue Roof home on Thursday for a Saturday burial.

A second coffin has been lying in state at the house where only Mugabe’s latest number one blue eyed boy Julius Malema was allowed to take pictures standing next to.

The surprise development comes as the government had drawn up plans to construct a mausoleum for Mugabe at the National Heroes Acre.

Sources claim that the Mugabe family which is seeking mercy from the Zimbabwean public considered the cost of the mausoleum on the taxpayer; the time it would take to complete and shock new revelations that government engineers had been instructed to construct a single ‘Presidential Mausoleum’ which would contain graves of former presidents, not just Mugabe’s.

“President Mugabe did not want to be buried at the Heroes Acre to stop those who tormented him in his final days from pontificating over his dead body,” a relative said. “It would be unconscionable to have him buried next to the man whom he held most responsible.”

Mugabe, who ruled Zimbabwe for 37 years before he was ousted in a military coup in 2017, died in a Singapore hospital at the age of 95 on September 6.

Mugabe’s widow, Grace, and children Bona and Robert Junior together with some of the former president’s nephews, among them Patrick Zhuwao and Walter Chidakwa changed heart on the Heroes Acre burial insisting that the former president had expressly communicated his wish to be buried in Kutama.

But the family had finally yielded, with some reluctance, to the government pressure which reportedly included threats to repossess some properties belonging to Mugabe but registered in Zanu PF’s name.

Signs that the family was again shifting its stance came on Monday when South African opposition leader Julius Malema travelled to Harare and met Mugabe’s widow.

“If the current dispensation here believes in President Mugabe, they should protect his legacy. Part of protecting his legacy is first and foremost to respect his last wishes and to respect the wishes of his family,” Malema said.

The Economic Freedom Fighters leader added: “It’s an absolute nonsense that you think declaring a person a national hero takes away the right of the family over the deceased. The family, especially the surviving spouse, has got the last word.

“It doesn’t matter whether you have declared a person a national hero or whether you are doing a state funeral. Every little detail of what you want to do around a dead body should be consulted with the family, particularly when we are Africans.

“There’s a very strong surviving spouse here who’s not easily shaken by arrivalists, so they ought really to respect her and respect the family’s wishes.”

Additional reporting ZimLive

Watch video below…

Jane Mlambo| Opposition MDC-T Vice President Obert Gutu has dashed to the defence of President Emmerson Mnangagwa over his address at the United Nations General Assembly which was delivered in an almost auditorium.

Posting on Twitter today, Gutu said African leaders are never made to deliver their speeches during prime slots which are a preserve of powerful states including the United States of America.

Gutu added that UNGA sessions need to be re-organized.

“United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) sessions need to be urgently re-organized. I’m in the United States right now & I noticed that African leaders are never given prime time slots for their presentations. US President Donald Trump made his presentation early morning, Tuesday.”

Mnangagwa’s UNGA address became a subject of debate in the country with some mocking him for delivering his speech in an almost empty auditorium.

Zanu PF aligned people fired back with pictures of other African leaders including Paul Kagame of Rwanda, Edgar Lungu of Zambia and many others who also addressed empty seats.

Farai Dziva| Contrary to claims by the government that Auxillia Mnangagwa was appointed as an ambassador at Havard University, the institution has said it has not appointed the Zanu PF leader’s wife to any post.

Harvard Media said in a statement: “Harvard-affiliated researchers working at one of our hospitals recently had an informal conversation with the First Lady of Zimbabwe about cancer screening in Africa.

The First Lady has not been named an ambassador at Harvard University.”

Government yesterday claimed Auxillia Mnangagwa had been given a special task by the university.

Farai Dziva| Dr Tapiwa Mashakada, the MDC Secretary for Policy and Research has warned government that the economy cannot survive without dollarization.

See Dr Mashakada’s full argument below :
“To Be or Not to be. That is the question”. William Shakespear

In the United Kingdom, there is a County called Warwickshire. The University of Warwick is in this County. But in England Warwickshire is otherwise better known as Shakespear’s County. Indeed it is the birthplace of the poet and playwright William Shakespear, the wordsmith.

In his book HAMLET, Shakespear asks a rhetoric question: “To be or not to be-thats the question”.

Today, like Shakespear we can all pontificate on our present ecoomic/currency crisis and as Shakespear did, raise our own rhetorical question as follows: “To dollarize or not- that is the question”.

In my view, re-dollarization is inevitable because the market has completely rejected the fake reintroduction of the so-called Zim dollar and instead the market has continued to index prices of goods and services in usd. In fact most retail outlets, shops, fuel stations, schools, hospitals, pharmacies, you name it, are either charging in usd or indexing. What we see as the price madness is all about indexing prices to parallel market rates which the regime is battling to tame.

During the week ending 20th September 2019, the parallel market closed at 1:25 before gvt descended on some named companies and froze their accounts leading to the tumbling of parallel market rates to as low as 1:10. But the question is: Can the forex market be determined by arrests or punitive measures. The answer is a big No. The forex market must be a free float. Hazvidi demo (you cannot use an axe) as it were to slush down parallel market rates. It is wishful thinking. We must not deal with symptoms.

The currency- cum exchange rate crisis has gone out of hand. Hyperinflation makes the situation worse. Prices of basic commodities are out of this world. The last year-on-year inflation rate was recorded in June 2019 at 175%.

The regime announced it would no longer publish annual inflation figures due to the break in time series data from the dollarization era to the Zim dollar era. The data is soft. But Professor Hanke continues to measure the Zim inflation. His latest figure is 745%. This is frightening.

Under such galloping inflation, the only option is to adopt a stable currency, which is the usd. According to Prof Hanke, the Rand is volatile and prone to frequent cyclical depreciation against the usd.

Money has among many functions, two nost important functions. Money is a store of value and a medium of exchange. With due respect a currency depends on confidence. At present, the market lacks confidence in the Zim dollar. In fact, as usual, gvt bungled when it prematurely annoumced the instant return of the Zim dollar when in fact gvt was not ready to introduce it. It was a false start. Hence in this regard, the reintroduction of the Zim dollar was a dump squib. It is a still birth as there was no new local currency issued. The bond note and rtgs remained the only legal tender. That even killed public confidence the most. Instead, gvt should have demonetized the bond and rtgs, print and gazette new Zim dollar notes and coins(base money) with particular features. That did not happen. Iam not by any means suggesting that the reintroduction of the Zim dollar was going to work. Far from it. I am on record arguing that the right macro-economic fundamentals must be in place.

What makes it necessary now to redollarize? The following reasons are most compelling:

1. No one has confidence in the Zim dollar anymore
2. Economic agents are still charging in usd or indexing prices to the parallel market exchange rates.
3. The log-it or lagged effect of rtgs denominated Treasury Bills are still driving money supply growth in the economy and monetary targeting has failed to chlorinate or sterilize the effects of deficit monetization.
4. Prices of goods and services are sticky downwards. Pundits of neo-liberal economics (like Prof Mthuli Ncube) think that one day there will be some imaginary competition that will drive prices down. Such thinking is Utopian and academic. Look at what happened in the week ending 20th September. Even though paralllel market rates fell drastically after the arrest of money launderers, prices did not fall in sympathy. Instead prices of commodities continue to rise and the poor are fèeling the pinch. Society has become more unequal and Zimbabweans are now trapped in poverty. But the sharks are happy. They can hedge themselves against inflation through forex trading and acquisition of Assets. The poor civil servants are wallowing in poverty. Pensioners are the worst. The economy is in a state of implosion. The wheels have come off. In order to abet this economic genocide, the gvt must without much ado, redollarize immediately within this side of 2019. Continuing with the bond and rtgs beyond December 2019 may precipitate social and political mayhem as citizens are losing patients. In fact the Currency crisis is itself a security threat. And so is the economic genocide propelled by price increases. People are dying in hospitals because firstly there are no drugs and secondly they cannot afford to buy from private pharmacies.

The recently appointed member of the Monetary Policy Committee, Eddie Cross opined that Zim earns about usd13.6bn per year in foreign currency inflows from exports of gold, tobacco , diaspora remmittances and other flows. If he is correct, then Zim has more that the 40% forex required as currency in circulation to underpin the reintroduction of the usd.

The rand has got issues with Rand Monetary Area and SACU rules. Moreover all the Member states have to agree on the admission of a new member.

Therefore, the only option for Zimbabwe is to redollarize. The Zim dollar is a debauched currency which cannot be used as a store of value.

Redollarization will solve the following:

1. Stabilize the economy and wipe out hyperinflation
2. Redollarize will stop the black market caused by the surrogate currencies
3. Redollarization will bring back confidence.
4. Redollarization will stop gvt borrowing and result in a cash budget
5. Redollarization will flush out cash barons and reverse corruption, clientelism and state capture.

Let there be market confidence. Let the usd return now and not later. I rest my case.

The IMF has privately warned Zimbabwe that state payouts to a company linked to global commodities trader Trafigura were pushing the shortages-plagued economy to the brink, reviving fears of corruption at the highest level of government. Payouts to Sakunda Holdings, a fuel company owned by an ally of President Emmerson Mnangagwa, were in effect met by the central bank’s printing money.

The transactions severely undermined the country’s currency — the Zimbabwe dollar — only months after it was introduced, the Washington-based institution told Harare this month, according to two people with knowledge of the discussions.

The payments have shed light on the financial links between the state and Sakunda’s chief executive, Kudakwashe Tagwirei, a businessman close to the ruling Zanu-PF party. Sakunda also owns a stake in Trafigura Zimbabwe, a joint venture with Trafigura, one of the world’s largest oil traders.

Sakunda received $366m in government bonds as payments for supplying “Command Agriculture”, a state farm subsidy scheme that Mr Mnangagwa has championed.

However, when Sakunda redeemed some of the bonds, the payouts were made in Zimbabwe dollars at an exchange rate that translated into massive money printing. The redemptions led to a 80 per cent surge in Zimbabwe’s monetary base — money in circulation including bank reserves.

The IMF’s programme with Harare has set a target of 8 to 10 per cent for this year.

Mnangagwa has welcomed the account freeze, saying it would stop people from trying to undermine the currency Following the IMF warning, Zimbabwe’s regulators last week froze the bank accounts of Sakunda and other companies. The move temporarily halted a sharp decline in the Zimbabwe dollar, also known as the RTGS dollar.

However, the consequences of the payments to Sakunda have added to disquiet in Zimbabwe over allegations of “state capture” — the exploitation of public institutions and funds for private interests. Opposition politicians have accused Mr Tagwirei of using his connections to the ruling party and the central bank to build his business.

Tendai Biti, a former finance minister and lawmaker with the opposition, said: “If ever there was state capture, it is Sakunda.” Since replacing the late dictator Robert Mugabe following a 2017 coup, Mr Mnangagwa has vowed to make Zimbabwe “open for business”. In February, he reintroduced the Zimbabwe dollar, a decade after its abolition in the aftermath of hyperinflation. But the currency has since fallen more than 60 per cent against the US dollar, fuelling triple-digit inflation and dire shortages.

The $366m bonds were issued in US dollars in January — the latest of hundreds of millions of US dollars in government bonds issued to Sakunda in recent years. When the new currency was created a month later, Zimbabwean contracts in US dollars were generally converted one-to-one into the new currency.

Recommended David Pilling Zimbabwe’s economic crisis has reached a breaking point But in July, Sakunda was paid by the central bank on the basis of eight to nine RTGS dollars per dollar of original face value, people with knowledge of the financial transactions said.

Mr Mnangagwa has welcomed the account freeze, saying it would stop people from trying to undermine the currency. The government has denied any wrongdoing. Zimbabwe’s finance ministry, the country’s central bank and Mr Tagwirei and Sakunda did not respond to many requests for comment. The IMF declined to comment. Trafigura also declined to comment on the allegations against Mr Tagwirei.

A spokesperson for Trafigura said: “Trafigura Zimbabwe is only involved with petroleum distribution and has no involvement with the activities of Sakunda Holdings in Zimbabwe.” The IMF has been monitoring economic reforms in Zimbabwe since May, part of a cautious testing of the waters by western nations on future financial support for Mr Mnangagwa’s government. Abuses by Mr Mnangagwa’s security forces have made international investors and leaders warier of Mugabe’s successor.

-Financial Times

By A Correspondent- Member of Parliament (MP) for Chivi South, Killer Zivhu has pulled a shocker after he continued to defy his party Zanu PF and embarked on a project to build three schools and a clinic in his constituency.

Zivhu says the project is aimed at bringing education and health services closer to the people he represents.

“We raised funds to build the schools in order to bring relief to local children many of whom are walking long distances when going to school. Clinics are also very few yet people need to be medically attended to in a more convenient manner,” said Zivhu.

Residents in the constituency managed to work together to raise funds to build the schools and the clinic with the help of the Community Development Fund (CDF).

On September 9, Zivhu visited wards 27 and 28 to address the community on the progress they have made in purchasing cement and other building materials.

Zivhu said the project was also informed by the promises he made during the 2018 elections.

“I want to fulfill the promises that I made to you during the elections that I was going to build schools for your children,” said Zivhu.

Chief Nemauzhe was present at the ground breaking of a new secondary school that will be built in Ward 27.

Meanwhile, Zivhu has come under fire for continuing to defy the Zanu-PF Masvingo provincial executive’s directive stopping him from carrying out party and parliamentary business in the area pending the finalisation of his disciplinary hearing.

It is understood the party wrote to the Politburo recommending that he be expelled for violating party rules after turning to social media platforms such as WhatsApp and Twitter, and allegedly pushed for dialogue between President Mnangagwa and MDC-Alliance President Mr Nelson Chamisa.

Further, Zivhu is said to have initiated the process of collecting signatures from people so that they support his dialogue initiative.

The state media reported that the Zanu-PF Masvingo executive recently read the riot act to Zivhu and ordered him to stop carrying out meetings until his matter was finalised.

Zanu-PF vice chairman for Masvingo Ailes Baloyi said yesterday that it was disturbing to note Zivhu was defying party directives.

“We are aware of Zivhu’s defiance and the reports are being taken to the national executive. Every move that he is making is known and we are only waiting for the results of the national disciplinary committee,” said Cde Baloyi.

He said it was public knowledge that Zivhu should not in any way disregard party directives through engaging in any developmental activities in his constituency.

“What he is doing is tantamount to defiance and we are not happy as an executive. One should just follow what he or she is advised by the party.”

— TellZim/Herald

In response to the authorities’ failure to allow Dr. Peter Magombeyi to travel to seek medical attention following his abduction and the deterioration of his health, Muleya Mwananyanda, Amnesty International’s Deputy Regional Director for Southern Africa said:

“Not allowing Dr. Magombeyi to travel to seek medical treatment outside Zimbabwe is a cruel denial that puts his health at risk.

“That anyone can be treated this way by the state is unbelievable – and is made worse by the fact that he’s already faced a terrible ordeal and abduction. This ill-treatment at the hands of the authorities is now endangering his health.  

“Dr. Magombeyi needs urgent medical treatment. The longer he stays in Zimbabwe, the more his health deteriorates. Zimbabwean authorities must immediately allow him to travel wherever he wants to seek medical treatment.”

Background

Dr. Peter Magombeyi is the acting president of the Zimbabwe Hospital Doctors Association (ZHDA). He was abducted on the night of 14 September from his house by three armed men suspected to be state agents and released after five days. He has been instrumental in fighting for the human rights and improved working conditions of Zimbabwean doctors, including leading recent wage increase talks which collapsed, leading to an imminent strike. 

Riot police were deployed in Harare on 24 September to prevent Dr. Magombeyi from leaving the country in defiance of a High Court order that allowed him to go and seek medical assistance out of the country. Police blocked him from leaving the hospital, preventing him from travelling abroad after his health deteriorated following his abduction.

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The current bank exchange rates for the ZWL$ today are as follows:

USD = ZWL$:14.9140 [25/09/2019]
ZWL$ = RAND:0.9997
Data according to the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe

Black Market Rates:

USD = ZWL$17 zimrates
USD = ZWL$17.30 zwl365
USD = ZWL$17 bluemari
USD = BOND11 zimrates

More: Marketwatch

By A Correspondent- A report by Financial Times claims that the International Monetary Fund (IMF) privately warned the Zimbabwean government that payouts to Sakunda Holdings were exacerbating shortages in the economy and signified high-level corruption.

Sakunda Holdings is owned by businessman Kudakwashe Tagwirei who is a close ally of President Emmerson Mnangagwa and linked to the ruling ZANU PF party.

The payouts that were given to Sakunda were met by the Central Bank printing money, leading to the devaluation of the Zimbabwean dollar.

Sakunda, which owns a stake in commodities trader Trafigura Zimbabwe, received $366m in government bonds as payments for supplying Command Agriculture.

Sakunda redeemed some of the bonds, with the payout being made in Zimbabwe dollars leading to an 80 per cent surge in Zimbabwe’s monetary base — money in circulation including bank reserves.

The Central Bank’s decision last week to freeze the accounts of Sakunda and other companies was a result of the IMF’s warning to the Zimbabwean government, the report claims.

Paul Nyathi|WFP executive director Mr David Beasley says that he told President Emmerson Mnangagwa that Zimbabwe has the capacity not only to feed itself but the whole world.

Mr Beasley said this to a Zimbabwean journalist on Tuesday after paying a courtesy call on President Mnangagwa on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly currently underway here.

“Zimbabwe cannot only feed itself but it can feed the whole world. It is a great nation and has many opportunities,” he said expressing disappointment at how the once bread basket of Southern Africa is now a basket case.

“We will be put together major financial operations to help people throughout Zimbabwe to make sure we have food security with smallholder farmers and help those that have been impacted by the drought. We look forward to a lot of good things happening to Zimbabwe,” said Mr Beasley.

Watch video of him speak courtesy of government spokesman, Nick Mangwana:

Paul Nyathi|A World Food Programme (WFP), official has assured President Emmerson Mnangagwa that his organisation with help from the Chinese government, has escalated efforts to provide emergency food aid to feed thousands of starving Zimbabweans due to the effects of the poor rain season last year.

The World Food Programme (WFP) and the Government of China recently signed agreements to provide emergency food assistance to Mozambique, Namibia and Zimbabwe to respond to food insecurity.

The agreements were signed by high-level management of WFP and China International Development Cooperation Agency (CIDCA).

Under the framework of the South-South Cooperation Assistance Fund, China’s support will enable WFP to procure food including rice, maize, pulses, fortified cereals, vegetable oil for more than 477,000 of the most vulnerable people in these three countries, mainly women and children.

Mozambique, Namibia and Zimbabwe face serious food insecurity challenges especially due to climate-related disasters such as droughts and floods.

WFP executive director Mr David Beasley told Mnangagwa that the United Nations (UN) food relief agency was mobilising resources to feed affected people, particularly those in rural areas.

Mr Beasley said this on the sidelines of the ongoing UN General Assembly on Tuesday when he made a courtesy call on President Mnangagwa.

“Zimbabwe cannot only feed itself but it can feed the whole world. It is a great nation and has many opportunities. We will be put together major financial operations to help people throughout Zimbabwe to make sure we have food security with smallholder farmers and help those that have been impacted by the drought. We look forward to a lot of good things happening to Zimbabwe,” said Mr Beasley.

The meeting was also attended by Finance and Economic Development Minister Mthuli Ncube and his Foreign Affairs and International Trade counterpart Dr Sibusiso Moyo.

According to its estimate, over US$331 million is required to feed more than 5,7 million people countrywide between now and April next year.

Mr Beasley has always affirmed WFP’s support on Zimbabwe saying they would do all they could to help Harare.

President Mnangagwa has since declared the El-Nino induced drought as a national disaster so as to activate local and international agencies to mobilise resources.

Concerns have however always been raised over President Mnangagwa’s ZANU PF party partisan distribution of such food aid when it reaches the country.

The ZANU PF systems on the ground hijack the food and use it as campaigning material distributing it only to those perceived to be loyal to the party.

The government has tightened its monitoring mechanisms on subsidised bread-making flour to millers and bakers to avoid unjustified bread price increases.

This comes after several reports of some “bakers” abusing the subsidised commodity to make biscuits, cakes, and other confectionaries at the expense of bread.

The Grain Millers Association of Zimbabwe, an apex body for local millers which is charged with milling wheat and maize grain confirmed that government was closely monitoring the use of subsidized wheat meant for bread flour.

“We (millers) are currently enjoying a subsidy of $2 300 per tonne of wheat to be exclusively dedicated for bread flour only,” GMAZ spokesperson Garikai Chaunza confirmed.

“This is meant to stabilise and contain bread prices for the benefit of the consumers who are the financiers of the subsidy and it is our obligation that the flour must go to all bakeries, big and small who are into genuine bread baking and as an association we have always been on guard.”

Chaunza said flour for biscuits and other non-bread products is available at a non-subsidised price.

There are reports that there are known confectionary baking bakeries who are accessing subsidised bread-making flour, creating an artificial shortage of bread and at the same time resulting in the price hikes of the commodity.Bread prices have gone up from $6 to $9.

But National Bakers Association of Zimbabwe president Dennis Wallah denied the allegations that they were creating artificial shortages so that they can be justified to hike bread prices.

“There are still challenges in terms of accessing bread flour. Find out with millers if they have flour enough for everyone. Kindly come and check our silos and see if we have enough flour stocks,” he said.

Wallah said even if the government would monitor the subsidised wheat flour, bread prices were still going up as it was being necessitated by other factors as the economy is struggling.

“Of course, there are other factors necessitating bread price hikes. Look at fuel; it is going up almost on a weekly basis. We have electricity challenges so if bakers are running for 14 hours on generators do you think bread prices will remain low? Right now we also have water crises. Also we have raw materials that we import and getting foreign currency is now very difficult,” he said

NewsDay|INTERNAL strife is threatening the Nelson Chamisa-led MDC ahead of its 20th anniversary celebrations amid reports of sharp divisions emerging over the strategy the opposition party should employ to face off against the well-oiled Zanu PF and government machinery.

Insiders told NewsDay that the party was worried over its recent poor showing in by-elections, the thwarted demonstrations and disharmony in the party, particularly by loyal party members who felt hard-done after failing to secure appointment into the party’s national executive.

“There are concerns over how the party is being run. More concern was on how we are failing to run the party at a time when the economy is collapsing. We should be using the public sentiment to our advantage; the party keeps losing to Zanu PF,” a highly-placed source said.

The tensions have seen party leadership turning against each other with knives going out to former secretary-general Douglas Mwonzora, who faces disciplinary action for travelling with Zanu PF MPs to Sweden for re-engagement meetings.

Sources said the party has appointed vice-chairman Job Sikhala to conduct a disciplinary hearing against Mwonzora, who is now accused of fronting a Zanu PF agenda and nudging the MDC towards dialogue whipping sentiments against demonstrations.

Sikhala said he was not aware of the charges against Mwonzora.

“Nothing that I know at the moment. If there is anything that will come we will cross the bridge when we get there,” he said.

Mwonzora, who is MDC deputy secretary of international relations, travelled to Sweden with Speaker of the National Assembly Jacob Mudenda, Kindness Paradza, Joshua Sacco of Zanu PF and Priscilla Misihairabwi-Mushonga of MDC-T for a re-engagement diplomatic mission, which has angered some of his peers in the party.

On return, he presented a report to the party, detailing the outcomes of the meetings in which the parliamentary team met officials from Sweden’s Foreign Affairs ministry, the Speaker of the Swedish Parliament, officials from the ruling Social Democratic Party, the secretary-general of the Olof Palme Centre as well as the representatives of the Swedish Trade Union Confederation.

He is accused of having joined Zanu PF in pushing for the removal of sanctions during the meetings, an allegation Mwonzora has since denied.

In his report, Mwonzora said the Swedish government told Mudenda’s delegation that they would only support Zimbabwe if President Emmerson Mnangagwa held talks with Nelson Chamisa and genuine reforms are put on the table.

Mwonzora has since denied any wrongdoing, saying he will wait to hear from his party, but remained loyal to the cause, the leadership and the constitution of the MDC.

“I have not committed any offence at all. I have followed all the procedures to the book and I have submitted my report to the party. The European Union lifted sanctions against Zimbabwe a long time ago and as far as February 19 they indicated that they were not going to re-impose the sanctions. As far as I know only the late (former President) Robert Mugabe and his wife and the Zimbabwe Defence Industries are still on EU active sanctions, the former army personnel Constantino Chiwenga and Perrance Shiri, including army general Phillip Valerio Sibanda are on the inactive list,” he said.

MDC deputy spokesperson Luke Tamborinyoka denied the reports that the party was in turmoil, saying it remained united and would continue with demonstrations to ensure that political pressure piles on Mnangagwa.

“We have caused a seismic shift in the politics of this country. We came up with our Reload policy document as a leadership and that document has caused a seismic shift in the politics of this country and Mr Mnangagwa is panicking,” he said.

“We actually launched our demonstrations in major cities which were proscribed. Zanu PF is fearful because on the ground we have massive support. So we have a thought leadership and I can tell you we achieved a lot of things through those demonstrations even though they were banned. But I tell you we showed that we have a lot of traction in the country.”

Tamborinyoka said the national executive was working in common purpose.

“We are very united at the cockpit level, very, very united. We are a cohesive unit. President Chamisa is out of the country on a diplomatic offensive. That is just smoke without fire, teargas is smoke, but there is no fire,” he said.

Paul Nyathi|High Court Judge President Justice George Chiweshe on Wednesday ordered Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP) officers to immediately release Zimbabwe Hospital Doctors Association (ZHDA) leader Dr Peter Magombeyi and allow him to travel to South Africa to seek and access specialist medical services.

Some ZRP officers had effectively “imprisoned” Dr Magombeyi after they camped at the Avenues Clinic in Harare after preventing him from leaving Zimbabwe to access medical services in South Africa.

The ZRP’s actions were in contempt of a lawful court order granted by consent on Tuesday 24 September 2019 by High Court Judge Justice Happias Zhou, who interdicted ZRP from preventing Dr Magombeyi from leaving Zimbabwe for South Africa.

But on Wednesday Justice Chiweshe ordered ZRP or anyone acting through them or on their behalf to immediately release Dr Magombeyi. During the court hearing, the Judge President questioned ZRP if there is a law which entitles police officers to hold and detain people who are not suspects.

Justice Chiweshe also dismissed an application filed on Tuesday by ZRP Commissioner-General Godwin Matanga and Michael Chibaya, the Officer-In-Charge of Criminal Investigations Department (Law and Order Section) at Harare Central Police Station purportedly seeking to “correct” the consent order granted by Justice Zhou.

In court, Dr Magombeyi’s lawyers Alec Muchadehama, Beatrice Mtetwa, Roselyn Hanzi and Jeremiah Bamu argued that the ZRP officers’ actions in preventing the ZHDA leader were in defiance of the recommendation by his doctors, who noted that he had suffered possible physical harm and psychological trauma which warranted that further functional brain imaging and further toxicological evaluation, which is not available in Zimbabwe, be conducted on him.

Speaking on the case, the Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights castigated the state for wasting the court’s time and risking Dr Peter Magombeyi’s health.

“It is very unfortunate that the State chose to waste the court’s precious time and resources and to jeopradise the health of Dr Magombeyi.”

Zlhr

Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) governor John Mangudya was yesterday summoned by a Harare magistrate Lazini Ncube to testify in a matter where Kwekwe businessman Shepherd Tundiya is facing charges of defeating the course of justice.

Tundiya’s lawyer Ashiel Mugiya, however, put the State on notice that if Mangudya failed to appear in court on the next remand on October 21, he will apply for his client to be removed from remand.

Two witnesses Douglas Mafukidze and James Goddard have so far testified.

Allegations are that on December 19, 2018, the informant reported a case of criminal abuse of office against MPs Temba Mliswa, Anele Ndebele, Prince Sibanda and Leonard Chikomba.

The MPs are alleged to have met Goddard and demanded a bribe of US$400 000 to help secure him a mining contract with Hwange Colliery Company.

The meeting had been facilitated by Tundiya.

It is alleged on January 23, 2019, around 3:3pm, Goddard allegedly received a call from Tundiya enquiring about his next visit to Harare and he indicated that he was visiting the following day.

Tundiya further advised the complainant that Mangudya wanted to meet him the following day.

Goddard, in the company of his company’s administrator, Douglas Mafukidze, allegedly met with Tundiya at Mangudya’s office.

The accused then proceeded to advise Goddard that their applications were being processed, and directed that he should withdraw the police report which he had lodged against Mliswa and other members of the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Mines as the charges would cause great embarrassment to Mangudya.

Paul Nyathi|President Emmerson Mnangagwa appealed for patience Wednesday for his efforts to pull the country out of an economic collapse and called on the U.S. and Europe to lift “illegal sanctions” that he blamed for slowing down the recovery.

Mnangagwa made no mention during an address to the U.N. General Assembly of political repression under his rule, which has diminished hopes that Zimbabwe had been on the brink of change following the ouster of longtime leader Robert Mugabe, who died in Singapore earlier this month whose burial remains a myth.

More than 50 government critics and activists have been abducted in Zimbabwe this year, at times tortured and warned by suspected state security agents to back off from anti-government actions. Critics have accused Mnangagwa of resorting to strong-armed tactics as opposition to his government grows amid crippling inflation, debilitating water shortages and chronic power cuts.

Mnangagwa told the U.N. that government is making progress, including achieving a budget surplus through “fiscal austerity and discipline.”

He said government had established “an open political platform” for all parties to debate economic and political reform.

Mnangagwa said U.S. and European sanctions are “slowing down progress” and “punishing the poorest and most vulnerable in our society.”

The U.S. and the European Union imposed sanctions almost two decades ago over human rights abuses. While Mnangagwa addressed the General Assembly, an abducted and later released Dr Peter Magombeyi was leaving hospital through a court order after Mnangagwa’s police held him hostage refusing him to leave the country for further treatment in South Africa.

Mnangagwa, 77, who took over after Mugabe stepped down under military pressure from a military coup.

“I urge the world to be patient with us support us and to join us on this new and exciting journey together,” Mnangagwa said.

Watch Mnangagwa address the General Assembly in the video downloading below:

Paul Nyathi|Havard University media has said that first lady, Auxillia Mnangagwa was never appointed the honorary ambassador of the world-renowned academic institution.

The institution alleges that Havard-affiliated researchers at one of its hospitals had “an informal conversation with the First Lady of Zimbabwe about cancer screening in Africa.” It also says that Mrs Mnangagwa “has not been named an ambassador at the Havard University”. See part of the statement below.

Meanwhile, Jeffrey Smith, founding Director at Vanguard Africa who also signed a letter to force the academic institution to rescind the first lady’s honorary ambassadorship says that the institution was now backtracking.

He said when they wrote the letter, they had confirmed that indeed the institution had made Mrs Mnangagwa their ambassador. Posting on Twitter, Smith said:

They are backtracking, very clearly. The reference to First Lady Mnangagwa as an ‘honorary ambassador’ on their website, plus the corresponding tweet, have been deleted in the last few hours. Now we await the public statement, admitting this grave mistake. cc: @thecrimson

See below Havard University’s statement in which it awarded the honorary ambassadorship to Mrs Mnangagwa.

Source: Pindula News.

Paul Nyathi|Bulawayo Magistrate Tinashe Tashaya has cancelled an administrative warrant of arrest against MDC National Chairperson Tabitha Khumalo after she failed to appear for trial earlier this month.

Through her lawyers, Khumalo argued that she was out of the country and couldn’t attend the trial.

Khumalo (58), senator Helen Zivira Mpofu (44), Tendai Masotsha (45), Elliot Mujeri (34), Tinashe Matimbura (28), Meliqiniso Sithole (42) and Shelton Tembo (35) were supposed to appear before Tashaya earlier this month but the MDC chairperson was in no-show.

The seven are facing charges of publishing or communicating false statements prejudicial to the State and accusing President Emmerson Mnangangwa of stealing the July 2018 elections.

Tashaya ruled for an administrative warrant against Khumalo, advising her lawyers to make her come to court as soon as possible.

Her lawyer Godfrey Nyoni submitted that Khumalo had advised in the previous session that she would be travelling to South Africa and prayed for the setting aside of the warrant, but Tashaya ruled that the warrant was effective.

Appearing on review yesterday, the magistrate cancelled the warrant of arrest and highlighted that the previous bail conditions remain.

Paul Nyathi|Doctor Peter Magombeyi desperate to leave the country for medical treatment after his recent abduction is now free to go after a High Court judge dismissed an effort by police to stop him, one of his lawyers celebrated on Wednesday.

Alec Muchadehama confirmed the judge’s decision after police had argued that the head of the Zimbabwe Hospital Doctors Association, Dr. Peter Magombeyi, was “unfit to travel.”

Police on Tuesday had swarmed the hospital where he was recuperating and blocked him from leaving for neighboring South Africa, even though a judge had ruled he could travel.

Magombeyi’s alleged abduction after leading a pay strike led to days of protests by health workers and expressions of concern by diplomats and rights groups, who say more than 50 government critics and activists in Zimbabwe have been abducted this year alone.

Lawyers have said preliminary medical assessments of the doctor show possible physical harm and psychological trauma during his disappearance. Magombeyi’s lawyers have worried that his condition would deteriorate as the drama played out.

It was not clear whether the doctor would immediately be released from custody. “He is still in hospital under police guard,” Muchadehama said, adding that lawyers were working on serving the judge’s order Wednesday night.

Police had dismissed accusations they were preventing the doctor from traveling, saying they were providing him with protection “for his own personal safety.” In their court application filed Tuesday night, they said Magombeyi should remain at the hospital until they could sort out his security while in South Africa.

Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights, a non-governmental group helping the doctor, described the police statements as “shocking.” Zimbabwe’s information minister, Monica Mutsvangwa, later asserted that police had intervened after “15 unidentified individuals” tried to remove the doctor from his hospital bed.

“The police are keen to apprehend the alleged abductors,” she said. She also repeated government doubts that the doctor had been abducted in the first place. The government has bristled at the accusations of abductions of critics and activists, with President Emmerson Mnangagwa and other officials over the weekend warning against so-called “false” abductions they assert are meant to make the government look bad. Mnangagwa is attending the United Nations annual gathering of world leaders this week.

Zimbabwe’s health sector, like its economy, is in crisis. Many services are unavailable due to collapsed infrastructure, lack of medicines or unavailability of doctors and nurses who say they can no longer afford transport to return to work.

AP

Paul Nyathi|President Emmerson Mnangagwa has said sanctions imposed on Zimbabwe by the West have slowed down the country’s development and constitute an attack on human rights of the people of the southern African nation.

He said this during his address to the 74th United Nations General Assembly meeting in New York. He applauded Southern Africa for standing by Zimbabwe in calling for the unconditional removal of the two-decade embargo.

”These sanctions constitute a denial of the human rights of the people of Zimbabwe to develop and improvement of their quality of life.

“Furthermore, sanctions are slowing down on progress, inhibiting our economic recovery and punishing the poorest of the poor,” he said.

Mnangagwa called on the United Nations to assert its authority and honour its principles by reining in on countries that imposed the sanctions.

He said countries that practiced racism and unfairness must be challenged.

“As United Nations let us boldly honour the principles of our Charter. The wrong of the world must be set right. Unfair practices must be challenged just like racism and all forms of oppression by man must be opposed and rejected,” said Mnangagwa.

Watch Mnangagwa address the General Assembly in the video downloading below:

Government will continue to monitor the architecture of the country’s financial system to close all loopholes that unscrupulous dealers could use to manipulate the exchange rate, Finance and Economic Development Minister Professor Mthuli Ncube revealed on Monday.

This comes in the wake of last week’s sharp devaluation of the local currency, the Zimbabwe Dollar, which authorities said had been driven by feverish speculation on the black market.

The devaluation saw the escalation of prices of most goods and services when using the local unit.
The exchange rate dropped from an average of Z$14 to the greenback within a space of a few days to Z$25 to the USD$, the lowest point the currency had devalued to since the Government re-introduced it as the country’s sole trading currency early this year.

Before that, the country used a basket of currencies, particularly the United States dollar, following the collapse of the Zimbabwe dollar in 2008.

Last week’s unprecedented devaluation of the local currency prompted the Government to freeze the bank accounts of a number of companies and individuals – suspected to be linked to the currency manipulation – action which immediately arrested the Zimbabwe dollar’s fall.

Prof Ncube said the local currency had re-gained much of its lost value, and had now stabilised at around Z$14/15 to the greenback, its previous level before last week’s sharp devaluation.

“It’s very clear that we needed to close those loopholes that some have taken advantage of and manipulate the exchange rate of the currency,” he said.

He said there will, henceforth, be close monitoring of developments in the market by the Government and monetary authorities, and action will be taken immediately if something suspicious is detected.

“There is stability now at Z$14/15, and we will closely monitor developments,” he said.State media

A BODY mix-up at a funeral parlour in South Africa resulted in a family from Tsholotsho in Matabeleland North burying a wrong corpse.

Bhekisisa Moyo (25) was allegedly stoned to death and his body was taken to a mortuary in Diepsloot in South Africa where the body of Coaster Chauke from Chiredzi, was also being kept.

Moyo’s family mistakenly collected Chauke’s body for burial as they did not conduct body viewing due to the state of their son’s body.

Moyo was allegedly stoned to death in the neighbouring country while Chauke was fatally stabbed.

Moyo was buried on September 15.
In a telephone interview, Chauke’s family yesterday said the body-mix has left them drained emotionally and financially.

Chauke’s brother Mr Joseph Chinhemba said his family had to bring Moyo’s body to his relatives in Tsholotsho when they discovered the body mix-up.

“My brother and this other one from Tsholotsho were taken to the same funeral parlour following their deaths last month. It seems they were taken on the same day to the parlour. The family from Tsholotsho managed to fix their repatriation papers before us and collected the body; unfortunately they collected my brother’s body which they buried in their rural home in Tsholotsho,” said Mr Chinhemba.

He revealed that Moyo’s family did not conduct the body viewing process in line with their cultural beliefs as their son was killed.

Mr Chinhemba said processes have commenced to ensure that his brother is exhumed for reburial in their rural home.

“This is painful for us. It has exhausted us emotionally, physically and financially. We had to bring a body fully knowing it is not ours from South Africa. Now it is going to cost us further to transport my young brother’s remains to our rural home. Some of our relatives will never get the closure they require as we will also no longer conduct body viewing process,” said Mr Chinhemba.

However, he said they have no qualms with Moyo’s family as they believe that the incident was a genuine mistake.

Mr Chinhemba said if there is anyone to blame it is officials at the South African mortuary.State media

THE Zanu-PF Youth League says it has noted with concern the recent wave of alleged abductions in the country which are a ploy by the MDC-Alliance and its allies to destabilise and tarnish the country’s image.

In a statement yesterday, Zanu-PF Deputy Secretary for Youth Affairs, Lewis Matutu , said the recent alleged abduction of Dr Peter Magombeyi, who is the acting president of Zimbabwe Hospital Doctors Association (ZHDA), is linked to the MDC-Alliance’s cocktail of acts that include violence, propaganda and economic vandalism.

“It has been noted that Dr Magombeyi has finally resurfaced and has given himself up to the police after a period of six days of uncertainty during which his whereabouts were unknown to the general members of the public.

It has come to my attention that Dr Magombeyi emerged with no visible physical injuries. It is my belief that the opposition MDC-A and its allies have embarked on a deliberate programme to destabilise the country through a cocktail of acts that include violence, vile propaganda and economic vandalism in order to achieve unconstitutional regime change and overturn the wishes of the majority of Zimbabweans as expressed in the July 2018 elections,” he said.

Matutu said the ruling party has long maintained that the MDC-Alliance has resorted to fabricating abductions with the specific aim of tarnishing the image of the Government of Zimbabwe.

“The MDC-A intended to use the false abduction of Dr Magombeyi as a Trojan horse through which to engage in violent demonstrations with a view to destabilising the nation and effecting regime change.

In my opinion Dr Magombeyi was not alone in this charade that he has subjected our country to. He has been acting in concert with the MDC-Alliance as evidenced by the participation of senior MDC-A officials, the most prominent being David Coltart,” he said.State media

Farai Dziva|Legal experts have pointed out that the State’ s argument in Dr Peter Magombeyi’s case is fraught with inconsistencies.

The State, in its application to have the acting president of Zimbabwe Hospital Doctors Association, Peter Magobeyi kept at Avenues Hospital, has argued that the doctor is unfit to travel.

The State is blocking his release despite the High Court giving Magombeyi the greenlight to go.

Paragraph 3.2 of the State’s “correction” application, reads:
“The Respondent’s son underwent medical examination and the government doctors indicated that he is unfit to travel.”