FC PLATINUM were not at their fluid best, but still managed to bulldoze their way back to the top of the Castle Lager Premiership football table with this scrappy win at the National Sports Stadium yesterday.
A minute of silence was observed before the match in honour of former President Robert Mugabe who died last Friday.
The Zvishavane-based miners struggled to assert themselves in this encounter which, on any other day, would have been won comprehensively by the hosts, leaving their coach Norman Mapeza in huge doubt over their ability to win the championship for a third season running.
Goals in either half by Albert Eonde and substitute Rodwell Chinyengetere ensured maximum points for FC Platinum.
They took their tally to 39 points, same as ZPC Kariba, but they have a superior goal difference.
Missing about 10 of his regular players, Mapeza was forced to throw several green horns in the deep end but despite their nervousness, they proved their mettle.
Having gone for three games without a win, FC Platinum desperately needed to win this one and Mapeza was briefly relieved but admitted his side is short on depth.
“Look, I have to be honest. For us to really push for the championship, looking at where we are, we don’t have depth.
“We don’t have depth at all, if you guys can’t see that, then well I don’t know. We have to work and see how the season progresses,” said Mapeza.
“It was about results today. We were missing about 10 of our regular players through injuries, suspensions and national team duties.
“Credit to the boys who worked so hard. “We are struggling to be honest but to be able to get three points away from home is something commendable. “We actually had three guys from our Under-19s in today’s game. I am someone who believes in these youngsters . . . ”
The hosts Herentals, in a precarious position, would have picked up a point in this match or better still a victory but they failed to put together the basics in all aspects of the game.
They were lapse in their defending, fragile in midfield and blunt in attack. With barely a quarter of an hour into the match, Eonde connected with his left foot which carried a deflection for the visitors’ opener. Innocent Benza and Blessing Majarira both came closer to level matters at the opposite end but FC Platinum goalkeeper Petros Mhari stood firm.
Herentals took total control of the match on resumption and should have scored at least twice had they been clinical in front of goal.
But it was the guests who stretched their advantage with 20 minutes on the clock after Rodwell Chinyengetere rose firmly to plant home a header off a corner past Frank Kuchineyi, in goals for Herentals.
Herentals coach Kumbirai Mutiwekuziva was left a disappointed lot after seeing his charges lose their second game on the trot.State media
The Director-General of the Central Intelligence Organisation (CIO) on Sunday revealed a dramatic confrontation he had with former President Robert Mugabe after the latter said he would vote for Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) leader Nelson Chamisa in elections last year.
Isaac Moyo’s admission that he confronted Mugabe, who died last Friday, over his voting choice lays bare the CIO’s meddling in the country’s politics to keep Zanu-PF in power.
Mugabe made the dramatic announcement on the eve of elections in July last year, although the man who seized power from him months earlier – Emmerson Mnangagwa – went on to claim a controversial narrow victory. Mnangagwa, who came to power after the military staged a coup, had coveted Mugabe’s endorsement, which never came.
“The two women (Joice Mujuru and Thokozani Khupe) don’t seem to offer very much. So what is there? I think it’s just Chamisa,” Mugabe said at a July 30 news conference held at his sprawling residence in Harare.
He added: “I must say very clearly, I cannot vote for those who have tormented me. No. I can’t!”
Moyo, perhaps seeking to re-write history, claims that in the end Mugabe’s widow, Grace, told him that the former president had in fact voted for Zanu-PF. Mnangagwa’s intelligence chief says he “enjoyed” hearing that.
Moyo says he had been assigned by Mnangagwa to be the “link-man” between him and Mugabe.
“Of course here and there, there were also moments we had our tensions. I remember when I first went to see him after his press conference, where he announced he was going to vote for Chamisa. We really had an exchange that day, but what then emerged was that he said despite having threatened to vote for Chamisa, he actually did not vote for Chamisa,” Moyo told the Sunday Mail.
“I was told how on the eve of the elections he had agonised, he could not sleep. According to the former First Lady, he had woken up around 2AM and he said he could not sleep and the idea that he would go and vote for Chamisa was rebuffed, he could not do that.
“And the former First Lady said she then encouraged him to follow his real wishes and to vote for comrades he has always been with and not to worry about the small matters between them, and so the former First Lady, with the concurrence of Cde Mugabe himself, said he had not voted for MDC, but he had voted correctly. I found that fun and I enjoyed the story.”
Under section 208 of Zimbabwe constitution, members of the security services are barred from “acting in a partisan manner” or “furthering the interests of any political party or cause.”
The MDC has long complained of the conflation between state and party. The professionalisation of the civil service is one of the outstanding governance reforms demanded by the party.- State Media
President Mnangagwa has expressed surprise that some members of former President Robert Mugabe’s family are not in the country allegedly fearing persecution and were worried about being barred from attending the funeral of the veteran nationalist who passed away on Friday morning, State Media heard yesterday.
Patrick Zhuwao, Mugabe’s nephew, is reportedly in “exile” fearing for his life.
This emerged at the weekend as the Mugabe family engaged President Mnangagwa on logistics to give the former President his final rest.
The family appointed Mr Leo Mugabe as its sole spokesperson.
Deputy Chief Secretary to the President and Cabinet Mr George Charamba, who is also the Presidential spokesperson,revealed that on Friday the Mugabe family and Zvimba chieftainship connected with the President through Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ziyambi Ziyambi and Phillip Chiyangwa at State House during which meetingthey expressed gratitude for the support which the President, in his personal capacity as well as Government, extended to the former President and his family.
The former Head of State, who died at the age of 95 at a Singaporean hospital, had been unwell for a long time.
The emissaries requested that the President extends the same assistance to the family to get more members of both the Mugabe and Marufu families to travel to Singapore both to share in the grief with the former First Lady and assist with the overall arrangement of the repatriation of the body of the late Mugabe.
Mr Charamba said the family wanted assurance from the President that family members who had either left the country on their own or had gone into self-exile could attend the funeral without any arrest.
In response, President Mnangagwa acceded to all the requests by the family.
Said Mr Charamba: ‘‘The President immediately gave instructions to the Chief Secretary to the President and Cabinet Mr Misheck Sibanda to ensure that the delegation comprising both the Mugabe and Marufu and party officials and Government representatives depart for Singapore today to support the former First Lady and that a chartered plane must be secured to take them to and from Singapore.
‘‘Secondly, President Mnangangwa expressed surprise that there were some members of the Mugabe family who had left the country without any indication that they were facing any charges. In any event, if this had been made clear to the President, the Mugabe family would be protected against undue victimisation.
“In particular the President could not understand why Patrick Zhuwao had left the country except, possibly, in solidarity with his colleagues, one of whom had in fact been in and out of the country,’’ he said, in apparent reference to another “G40” kingpin Saviour Kasukuwere.
Mr Charamba explained thatin respect to travel documents of Mugabe family members who are currently undergoing trail in the courts, the President instructed the Minister of Justice and Parliamentary Affairs Ziyambi Ziyambi together with the courts to look into the matter, stressing that travel documents were not held by the Government but by the courts.
Vice President Kembo Mohadi, has been tasked to lead a ZANU PF delegation of predominantly G40 faction members to join members of the Mugabe family and the family of the former First Lady — the Marufus to facilitate the repatriation of the national hero’s body from Singapore where he died last Friday.
President Emmerson Mnangagwa who is reportedly in the list of people Mugabe ordered not to have a part in his burial cleared Mohadi to lead the delegation.
Deputy Chief Secretary to the President and Cabinet, who is also the Presidential spokesperson, Mr George Charamba, said on Friday morning President Mnangagwa and his Government assigned Vice President Mohadi to lead the delegation.
“The President gave instructions to the Chief Secretary to the President and Cabinet, Dr Misheck Sibanda, to ensure that the delegation comprising both the Mugabe and Marufu families; party officials and Government representatives departs for Singapore today to support the former First Lady and that a chartered plane be secured to take them to and from Singapore.
“The delegation comprises of the Mugabe and Marufu family, from the party there is Zanu-PF Secretary for the Women’s League, Cde Mabel Chinomona; and Politburo members Cde Edna Madzongwe, Cde Sydney Sekeramayi and also a representative from the Youth League and the whole delegation is led by Vice President Kembo Mohadi.’’
The senior ZANU PF members are known members of the G40 faction that supported Mugabe through the fierce factional fights within the party in the run up to the coup against Mugabe in November 2017. Sekeramayi was actually Mugabe’s preferred successor over Mnangagwa.
The delegation leaves today and is expected back in Zimbabwe on Wednesday.
BY DR MASIMBA MAVAZA| Flags in Zimbabwe are flying at half mast, each giving a sorrowful wave in the winds of September. The rhythm of the wind sings to a sad tune which says goodbye our hero. Goodby. Robert Gabriel Karigamombe Mugabe. A very dark cloud has enveloped the nation and yes we are all in mourning. The social media is awash with the news that President Mugabe refused to be buried at the National Heroes Acre.
The Gushungo family conveyed their message to the government. If there is any time when the family’s wishes would be disregarded it is when the hero of Mugabe’s nature dies. Mugabe is a national hero; his heroics suppress his faults. He was not only a member of ZANU PF. He was ZANU PF itself. Mugabe was larger than the party. Love him or hate him Mugabe won the hearts of both friends and enemies alike.
Burying him at heroes acre cannot be decided by his relatives. There is no person who is supposed to be buried at heroes acre more than Mugabe.
Some political prostitutes who are quick to insult the president in order to gain positions are idiots and shameless bootlickers. While some family members who have scores to settle or those who have political reasons to offer dissenting voices try to make the burial place an issue, the reasons they are giving are that Mugabe did not want Mnangagwa to gain political milage by officiating at Mugabe’s funeral. These are seriously embarrassing. The burial of Mugabe is not a rally so there are no political gains to be won in officiating at his burial.
People should understand the presidency.
The president, in government, is the officer in whom the chief executive power of a nation is vested. The president of a Republic is the chief of state, but his actual power varies from country to country; in Zimbabwe the presidential office is charged with great powers and
responsibilities, but the office is relatively weak and largely ceremonial in Europe and in many countries where the prime minister, or premier,
functions as the chief executive officer.
Much of the time these chief executives function in a democratic tradition as duly elected public officials. Throughout much of the 20th century, however, some elected presidents—under the pretense of emergency—continued in office beyond their constitutionalterms. In other cases, military officers seized control of a government and afterward sought legitimacy by assuming the office of president. Still other presidents were virtual puppets of the armed forces or of powerful economic interests that put them in office.
Zimbabwe endowed the office of president with immutable executive powers, including the power to dissolve the national legislature and call national referenda. The elected president becomes a national property.
This means the president among being a human being is the property of the state. He is the face of the country and indeed his person is solely the person of the state.
When the president leaves office his welfare remains the responsibility of the state. He can not decide his fate. Mugabe’s burial place is therefore decided by the politburo.
While Mugabe was believed to have led a faction no amount of rebelling would strip the honour bestowed on Mugabe by the nation.
There are some organs of the party which had denigrated the person of Mugabe and his office. Most of these people were in dippers when Mugabe was in the trenches. Mugabe had taken decisions which made him unpopular but which enriched the people. The land reform programme needed a brave leader to issue a brave nod to the land issue. It is this decision which made Mugabe a hated person by the west.
Issues like Gukurahundi did not pity Mugabe against the rest. Actually Mugabe emerged stronger and consolidated his grip on ZANU PF after the Dissident error.
Now coming to the message purportedly said by Mugabe the nation must not lose sleep. There is no official message to President Mnangagwa it is entirely based on a rumour.
The government can not start reacting to rumours.
Matemadanda was wrong to say Mugabe has a choice. For the place of burial there is a place for heroes and there are some heroes are not allowed to have a choice. Robert Mugabe appears to be a president in rebellion against his former office. A former president, we have come to expect, hastens to the scene of a natural disaster to comfort the afflicted. He is expected to further national issues not personal vendetta. We have come to expect that when the national fabric rends, the former president will administer needle and thread, or at least reach for the sewing box of unity. We expect former presidents to be deal makers. Even when the opposition has calcified, they are supposed to drink and dine with the other side and find a bipartisan solution.
With Robert Mugabe we expected that his decades in the real national business would make him an especially able negotiator, he hasn’t much bothered to trade horses with the new leadership. To his critics, Mugabe’s detours from the expectations of his office prove he is unfit to inhabit it. Or they demonstrate his hypocrisy: The man who now ignores the traditional responsibilities of the job was once perhaps the nation’s foremost presidential scold, regularly criticizing his predecessors when they have not said anything.
It must be noted that Mugabe did not enjoy much peace after the coup or whatever it is called. He was isolated with very few people allowed to see him. He withdrew from the public and most of his time he was in hospital. No reasonable person would expect Mugabe to have taken a charitable work in sync with his office of the former president. His health did not allow him to venture in the public and interpreting that as departure from the party is foolish and cheap political gimmick by the clueless few.
Yes Mugabe was still angry with ED but his anger was never be above national pride and interest. Mugabe is a national pride and must be buried at the shrine.
We might say what we want to say but Mugabe remains a property of the state and he can not choose where he wants to be buried.
There are some vindictive people in ED’s government who would want to see the total humiliation of Mugabe even after death. They have not understood ED when he said Mugabe was his icon. Indeed Mugabe is iconic but his position prohibits him from making sweeping statements about our hero himself. He does not belong to Grace or Gushungos anymore. He is a national property.
Heroes acre will lose its weight without Mugabe. It will become a white elephant if it is not serving its purpose.
Without any futther negotiations Mugabe must be buried at the heroes acre.
Maybe Grace does not want to see Mugabe’s grave near Sally. This madness must stop. Our hero to the heroes acre.
Mugabe was part of Zimbabwe and he should be buried at a place where his contributions to the state is recognised. The word Zimbabwe can never be in a paragraph without Roberty Gabriel Mugabe. Baba Bona
President Mnangagwa has expressed surprise that some members of former President Robert Mugabe’s family are not in the country allegedly fearing persecution and were worried about being barred from attending the funeral of the veteran nationalist who passed away on Friday morning.
Patrick Zhuwao, Mugabe’s nephew, is reportedly in “exile” fearing for his life.
This emerged at the weekend as the Mugabe family engaged President Mnangagwa on logistics to give the former President his final rest. The family appointed Mr Leo Mugabe as its sole spokesperson.
Deputy Chief Secretary to the President and Cabinet Mr George Charamba, who is also the Presidential spokesperson, revealed that on Friday the Mugabe family and Zvimba chieftainship connected with the President through Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ziyambi Ziyambi and Phillip Chiyangwa at State House during which meeting they expressed gratitude for the support which the President, in his personal capacity as well as Government, extended to the former President and his family.
The former Head of State, who died at the age of 95 at a Singaporean hospital, had been unwell for a long time.
The emissaries requested that the President extends the same assistance to the family to get more members of both the Mugabe and Marufu families to travel to Singapore both to share in the grief with the former First Lady and assist with the overall arrangement of the repatriation of the body of the late Mugabe.
Mr Charamba said the family wanted assurance from the President that family members who had either left the country on their own or had gone into self-exile could attend the funeral without any arrest.
In response, President Mnangagwa acceded to all the requests by the family.
Said Mr Charamba: ‘‘The President immediately gave instructions to the Chief Secretary to the President and Cabinet Mr Misheck Sibanda to ensure that the delegation comprising both the Mugabe and Marufu and party officials and Government representatives depart for Singapore today to support the former First Lady and that a chartered plane must be secured to take them to and from Singapore.
‘‘Secondly, President Mnangangwa expressed surprise that there were some members of the Mugabe family who had left the country without any indication that they were facing any charges. In any event, if this had been made clear to the President, the Mugabe family would be protected against undue victimisation.
“In particular the President could not understand why Patrick Zhuwao had left the country except, possibly, in solidarity with his colleagues, one of whom had in fact been in and out of the country,’’ he said, in apparent reference to another “G40” kingpin Saviour Kasukuwere.State media
By Own Correspondent| Why has this Zim government rushed to block foreign leaders from attending Robert Mugabe’s burial? By midnight last night the Mugabe family was supposed to have revealed Bob’s burial place.
As the burial place of the late Head Of State Robert Mugabe was still to be decided Sunday evening, government has moved to bar foreign leaders from attending his burial next Sunday.
The foreign affairs ministry literally said, we will be busy after the National Sports stadium function on Saturday. Their announcement is in the official notice below.
This comes as President Robert Mugabe’s nephew, Leo told ZimEye in an interview the decision on the burial place was still to be decided as late as Sunday night.
He said the chiefs are the ones who will pass the decision. ALSO WATCH THE INTERVIEW BELOW –
VIDEO LOADING BELOW. ..
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Trade of the Republic of Zimbabwe presents its compliments to all Diplomatic Missions accredited to Zimbabwe and has the honour to convey the following arrangements for the funeral of the late former President of the Republic of Zimbabwe, Cde Robert Gabriel Mugabe:
1. The State Funeral Service will be held on Saturday 14 September 2019, in the morning at the National Sports Stadium in Harare. The times will be advised.
2. Heads of State/Government wishing to attend the Ceremony are advised to arrive in Harare on Friday 13 September 2019. 3. Heads of State/Government are expected to depart Immediately after the ceremony taking into consideration that Government au-thorities will be fully occupied with preparations for the burial ser-vice/ceremony reserved for Sunday 15 September 2019. 4. The full programme for the funeral service will be made available in due course. 5. The Government has block booked accommodation for 1+2 per delegation.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Trade of the Republic of Zimbabwe avails itself of this opportunity to renew to all Diplomatic Missions accredited to the Republic of Zimbabwe the assurances of its. highest consideration.
Vice President Dr Constantino Chiwenga yesterday described Robert Mugabe as an “iconic leader of African emancipation”, who empowered the nation through the land reform programme “at the risk of his own life and position”.
In a condolence message to President Mnangagwa, Mugabe’s family and the people of Zimbabwe, VP Chiwenga, who is presently receiving treatment in China, said the former founding President prosecuted the liberation struggle with distinction after taking over the reins of the party in 1977.
“It is with a deep sense of sorrow and shock that I learnt of the untimely passing on of Zimbabwe’s founding father and former President Cde RG Mugabe, on 6 September 2019.
“Cde Mugabe was the liberator of Zimbabwe, who upon taking the reins of leadership of Zanu in 1977, led the prosecution of the liberation struggle with distinction until the attainment of national independence in 1980,” he said.
“He will remain our founding father and iconic leader of African emancipation.”
He applauded Mugabe for leading Zimbabwe to become the country with one of the highest literacy rates in Africa, as well as law-abiding people, who respect the Constitution and electoral processes.
Mugabe, he added, was a selfless leader, who put the national interest ahead of his own.
“He leaves behind a legacy of a country with respect for constitutionalism, whereupon elections are held as prescribed in the Constitution and the highest literacy rate in Africa.
“At the risk of his own life and position, Cde Mugabe courageously empowered the nation, through the land reform programme. . .
“As I extend my condolences from China, my heartfelt sympathises are with his beloved family, His Excellency the President of the Republic of Zimbabwe, Cde E.D Mnangagwa and the nation at large. May his dear soul rest in eternal peace,” said VP Chiwenga.State media
FADZAI MAHERE
When things were good in Zimbabwe, Malawians, Mozambicans, Zambians and many others came here to settle and find work. They weren’t “stealing our jobs.” They were being productive and making a living.
We did not loot or burn shops where they set them up.
We did not hate them for working on our glorious farms.
We did not stop them from taking advantage of affordable and sometimes free public health and education. Education was for “all” regardless of where one originated from.
We coexisted peacefully in the townships. Neighbour meant neighbour.
We sometimes adapted our language to include our brothers and sisters from across the river, borrowed words and created hybrid communication to include our guests, now family, from afar.
We valued hard work. So when they worked hard, we worked hard too. Hard work by anyone is a badge of honour. The sky is big enough for all birds to fly.
We did not blame them for crime. An educated person knows that crime knows no nationality.
When Zimbabwe fought for liberation, it benefited all blacks, including those who had migrated here.
We did not blame foreigners for “taking our men or our women.” Mugabe married a Ghanaian and it was the most normal thing. Amai Sally is what we called her. We never sent her home. We buried her here. She was one of us because borders are artificial.
We joined hands with South Africa when they were fighting apartheid. We harbored their freedom fighters. We made noise on their behalf on the international stage. Their cause was our cause. Because that’s what black Africans do – they unite against injustice. We don’t impose it on ourselves.
We named our roads after Nkrumah, Mandela and Machel. These are our fathers. We don’t see them as foreigners.
In the circle of life, sometimes you’re an ant facing an elephant, vulnerable and desperate. Sometimes, the elephant dies and is eaten by the ant.
Africa has had a long history of injustice.
We are fighting global battles on many economic and social fronts. Being black in a world of prejudice is not and has never been easy.
Some countries are ahead. Some are behind. Nothing is fixed.
Like Zimbabwe did all those years ago, let’s learn to include fellow Africans in our prosperity.
The return fixture for the 2022 World Cup, preliminary round qualifier between Zimbabwe and Somalia is on Tuesday at National Sports Stadium in Harare.
The venue for this encounter was initially set for Barbourfields Stadium in Bulawayo but due some fixture changes it was moved to the capital city.
Kick-off time is in the afternoon at 3 pm.
The cheapest ticket has been pegged at $5 while Bay 15 to 18 is going for $10 and the VIP for $20.Ticket purchasing can be done online at ClicknPay.africa.
Meanwhile, the Warriors are trailing 1-0 in the encounter and will need to overturn the deficit without conceding a goal to reach the group stage of the qualifiers.Soccer24
Finance and Economic Development Minister Professor Mthuli Ncube has called for patience among citizens, adding that reforms initiated by Government since late last year were beginning to show signs of economic transformation.
He said it normally takes up to 18 months for economic recovery to become visible where austerity measures have been implemented.
Prof Ncube said this in an interview with SABC News last week on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum (WEF) on Africa in Cape Town, which ended on Friday.
With budget deficits now a thing of the past following the economic reforms being implemented under the Transitional Stabilisation Programme (TSP), Prof Ncube believes the economy has started to turn for the better.
The TSP is a short-term economic blueprint that runs from October 2018 to December 2020. “But then, the response of the economy (to reforms) usually takes longer,” said Prof Ncube.
“There is often an 18-month lag in terms of economic response to certain economic policy. So, citizens should be patient; we are on a reform agenda, the economy is in transition (and) we will get there.”
Prof Ncube said the bulk of challenges confronting Zimbabwe were essentially monetary issues, resulting in high inflation and shortages of some basics such as fuel.
“So, the monetary issue is being reformed to deal with those challenges that pertain to currency and fuel challenges in terms of supply,” he said.
Already, the currency issue has been partly resolved through the introduction of a single currency for domestic transactions, effectively removing multiple currencies that had been in use since 2009.
Multiple currencies had exposed the country to unintended consequences, with some traders demanding foreign currency only, which many citizens didn’t have.
Experts say the introduction of a single domestic currency will enable the country to save foreign currency to import essentials such as fuel, power and industrial inputs, while also building reserves to support the local unit. Despite the economic challenges occasioned by the economic reforms, Prof Ncube said foreign investor interest remained high, especially in the mining sector.
He expressed hope the sector, together with tobacco, will underpin the country’s economic growth and recovery, at least in the short-to-medium term.
Prof Ncube said Zimbabwe had at least 40 of the most valuable minerals in the world, including gold, diamonds, platinum, chrome and nickel.
He added that in line with the theme of the WEF Africa 2019, which was “Inclusive Growth and Shared Futures in the Fourth Industrial Revolution”, Government would work hard to support ICT initiatives in the country, particularly to support job creation among youths.
Prof Ncube was part of Emmerson Mnangagwa’s strong delegation to WEF for Africa 2019, which included ministers Dr Sibusiso Moyo (Foreign Affairs and International Trade), Engineer Joel Biggie Matiza (Transport and Infrastructural Development), Advocate Fortune Chasi (Energy and Power Development) and Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe Governor Dr John Mangudya.
Mnangagwa has already been invited to next year’s WEF in Davos, Switzerland, after he impressed its founder and executive chairman Professor Klaus Schwab with the amount of progress Harare has posted on reforms.
After a meeting with President Mnangagwa, Prof Schwab said the fact that Zimbabwe was now posting a budget surplus since January 2019, was an important piece of news that investors should hear.- state media
A ZIMBABWEAN CARER left a vulnerable pensioner was left £2,649 poorer after taking advantage of the elderly man, 74.
The victim was left devastated and depressed after the live-in carer treated himself to an iPhone 10 after stealing his bank cards.
Zvikomborero Tapfumaneyi, 25, admitted stealing bank cards from a 74-year-old man he was caring for, before using said cards for £2649.59 worth of fraudulent transactions.
A district judge at Reading Magistrates’ Court heard that the victim was left ‘devastated and depressed’ after being betrayed by his carer, who was originally from Zimbabwe but lived with the victim in Wokingham.
“The defendant was insured to drive his mobility vehicle, and would walk the defendant to the cash point when he needed to withdraw money.
“At 8.30am on Wednesday June 6 the victim was awoken by his carer who told him he had been made aware of an urgent family issue in Zimbabwe.
“He left and took all of his stuff.
“Later that afternoon, the defendant received a call from the fraud team at Barclays Bank, who informed him that there had been a series of transactions on his card.
“Those transactions included the iPhone, the food and the cash, as well as roughly £6,000/£7,000 worth of declined transactions.”
The victim’s statement was read to the court in parts.
The statement read: “I feel completely and utterly devastated by these events.
“I feel very stressed and depressed, I did not give him the authority to use the cards.”
Barcelona president Josep Maria Bartomeu has revealed club legend Lionel Messi is free to leave the club at the end of the season.
The Argentine signed a four-year deal in 2017 and will enter into his final year in June 2020.
Speaking to the club’s media, Bartomeu, however, says if Messi decides to leave, they will not be worried as it has been the same case with other club legends in the past.
He said: “Leo Messi has a contract through to the 2020-21 season, but the player is able to leave Barca before the final season.
“It’s the same case as with the final contracts that Xavi, (Carles) Puyol and (Andres) Iniesta had. They are players who deserve that liberty, and we shouldn’t worry, as they are very committed to Barca.
“We want Messi to play for Barca through to 2021 and beyond. We are very calm.”
Messi, 32, has been at Barcelona since 2001 and is the club’s record goalscorer.Soccer 24
The former Environment, Tourism and Hospitality Industry Minister Prisca Mupfumira last Friday made a fresh bail application at the Harare Magistrates’ Courts following the expiry of her 21-day detention period.
Mupfumira was issued with a certificate of detention on July 27 and could not apply for bail before the lapse of the 21 days.
She also made another application challenging her arrest on the basis that the police officers who arrested her were seconded to the Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission (ZACC) and, therefore, did not have arresting powers.
She argued that her arrest was null and void. Said Mupfumira’s lawyer, Mr Charles Chinyama: “Members of the armed forces should not be involved in civilian organisations.”
Harare magistrate Mr Elijah Makomo remanded Mupfumira to today for ruling on the applications.
Mupfumira is facing seven counts of criminal abuse of office involving US$95 million when she was Labour and Social Welfare Minister.
Her recent application for bail at the Supreme Court hit a brick wall after Justice Anne-Marie Gowora ruled that her grounds of appeal lacked merit.
Justice Gowora also criticised the decision by High Court judge Justice Erica Ndewere to set aside the certificate of detention issued by the Prosecutor-General.
Mr Chinyama told the magistrates’ court that he wrote a letter to the Supreme Court judge seeking clarification on whether the reinstatement of the certificate runs from when it was stopped by the High Court.
In her bail application, Mupfumira submitted that she should be granted bail as former permanent secretary in the Ministry of Labour and Social Welfare Ngoni Masoka, who is facing similar charges, is out on bail.
Prosecutor Michael Reza opposed bail saying Mupfumira lied to police officers who were trying to arrest her.
“She told the police officers that she was at Parliament and when they got there she was not present. She later told the police that she had got home,” Mr Reza said.
He said Mupfumira’s behaviour was evidence that she was trying to evade lawful arrest.- state media
The former Zimbabwe National Road Administration (Zinara) chief executive Frank Chitukutuku has made his first attempt at explaining how he acquired massive wealth valued at over US$20 million following an order compelling him to do so.
Chitukutuku, who is under investigation for fraud, was in June given a 30-day ultimatum to give an account of how he acquired an array of immovable and movable assets, amid suspicion he obtained them corruptly.
Under the Money Laundering and Proceeds of Crime Act (2013), authorities are empowered to scrutinise individuals’ wealth for the purposes of arresting crimes such as corruption and money laundering.
Chitukutuku was ordered to submit a detailed statement to the head of Asset Forfeiture Unit within 30 days.
High Court judge Justice Erica Ndewere also ordered the freeze of Chitukutuku’s assets pending finalisation of the criminal case.
Last week, police confirmed Chitukutuku complied with the order and that his docket was now being scrutinised by the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA).
A docket, according to the police, has since been compiled and is now at the NPA for scrutiny as investigations continue.
Through the statement submitted to the police, Chitukutuku explained how he acquired the immovable and movable assets.
National police spokesperson Assistant Commissioner Paul Nyathi confirmed receipt of a statement from him.
“We can confirm that we received the statement and we are now looking into the issue. He (Chitukutuku) must wait for the due processes of the law to be followed,” he said.
Sources close to the investigations also told The Herald that Chitukutuku recently gave a detailed statement to the head of the police’s Asset Forfeiture Unit (AFU) within a month.
This was after the State had claimed that Chitukutuku may have acquired his property through criminal activities, hence the need to have the same frozen.
The decision was made following an ex-parte application by Prosecutor-General Mr Kumbirai Hodzi for an unexplained wealth and asset freezing order in terms of Section 37B as read with Section 37H of Presidential Powers (Temporary Measures) (Amendment of the Money Laundering and Proceeds of Crime Act (Chapter 9:24) and Exchange Control Act) Regulations, 2018 (Statutory Instrument 246 of 2018).
Justice Ndewere ruled in favour of the State and barred any interested parties from dealing, in any way, with the property in question.
The order was issued after convincing arguments by the prosecution team led by chief law officer Mr Chris Mutangadura.
Mr Mutangadura heads the asset forfeiture unit at the NPA.
Chitukutuku is said to have acquired 10 motor vehicles between September 2013 and April last year.
These vehicles include two Mazda T35 trucks, a Hino Dutro truck, Toyota Land Cruiser, Toyota Prado, Nissan NP200, Range Rover, Hino Ranger and a Land Rover Discovery.
Sometime in 2011, Chitukutuku reportedly acquired residential properties namely: Property measuring 4 048 square metres held under Deed of Transfer 3232/11 situated at Lot 1 of Lot 3 of Lot 56A Borrowdale Estate, Harare and another one measuring 8 853 square metres held under Deed of Transfer 3885/11 situated at Lot 3 of Subdivision C of Subdivision B of Subdivision D of Nthaba of Glen Lorne.
The State also claims Chitukutuku built or acquired a multi-million dollar thatched precast-walled house at the top of a mountain at Belmont Farm, Goromonzi, adding he also has six state-of-the-art fowl runs, five tractors, a 10-tonne UD truck, 4 x 200-litre PVC water tanks, as well as several structures at the farm.
Apart from a long list of expensive properties, Chitukutuku is also said to be the owner of two renowned companies, Farm Pride (Private) Limited situated at 49 Kent Road, Chisipite, Harare and an insurance company, Champions Insurance, which boasts of assets estimated at over US$15 million.
According to the State, Chitukutuku acquired the properties at a time he was lawfully earning a combined $8 500 from Zinara as well as his farming activities. – Herald
Farai Dziva|The main opposition party in Zimbabwe, MDC has accused Zanu PF of attempting to “rig Robert Mugabe’s vote in last year’s presidential plebiscite.
The opposition party has also accused Emmerson Mnangagwa of “seizing” Mugabe’s funeral programme.
The Director-General in the President’s Office, Isaac Moyo, claimed Mugabe could not sleep the night he held a press conference endorsing Chamisa.
“Of course, here and there, there were also moments we had our tensions.
I remember when I first went to see him after his Press conference, where he announced he was going to vote for Chamisa.
We really had an exchange that day, but what then emerged was that he said despite having threatened to vote for Chamisa, he actually did not vote for Chamisa and I was told on how on the eve of the elections, he had agonised, he could not sleep.
According to the former First Lady, he had woken up around 2 am somewhere and he said he could not sleep and the idea that he would go and vote for Chamisa was rebuffed, he could not do that.
And the former First Lady said she then encouraged him to follow his real wishes and to vote for comrades he has always been with and not to worry about the small matters between them, and so the former First Lady, with the concurrence of Cde Mugabe himself, said he had not voted for MDC, but he had voted correctly, I found that funny and I enjoyed the story,” claimed Moyo.
Responding to Moyo’s remarks MDC Secretary General Chalton Hwende said :
Some people have no shame this attempt to rig Mugabe’s vote is ludicrous.
Mugabe told the whole world that he was going to Vote for @nelsonchamisa.
Gvt must allow RG’s family to mourn and bury him in peace.”
“Now they start again! What we will here next time is that RGM never said anything about the HEROES ACRE burial – I guess RGM’s vote was changed, they followed it in the ballot box – they rigged his vote,”said Nkululeko Sibanda, the MDC Presidential spokesperson.
Farai Dziva|The main opposition party in Zimbabwe, MDC has accused Zanu PF of attempting to “rig Robert Mugabe’s vote in last year’s presidential plebiscite.
The opposition party has also accused Emmerson Mnangagwa of “seizing” Mugabe’s funeral programme.
The Director-General in the President’s Office, Isaac Moyo, claimed Mugabe could not sleep the night he held a press conference endorsing Chamisa.
“Of course, here and there, there were also moments we had our tensions.
I remember when I first went to see him after his Press conference, where he announced he was going to vote for Chamisa.
We really had an exchange that day, but what then emerged was that he said despite having threatened to vote for Chamisa, he actually did not vote for Chamisa and I was told on how on the eve of the elections, he had agonised, he could not sleep.
According to the former First Lady, he had woken up around 2 am somewhere and he said he could not sleep and the idea that he would go and vote for Chamisa was rebuffed, he could not do that.
And the former First Lady said she then encouraged him to follow his real wishes and to vote for comrades he has always been with and not to worry about the small matters between them, and so the former First Lady, with the concurrence of Cde Mugabe himself, said he had not voted for MDC, but he had voted correctly, I found that funny and I enjoyed the story,” claimed Moyo.
Responding to Moyo’s remarks MDC Secretary General Chalton Hwende said :
Some people have no shame this attempt to rig Mugabe’s vote is ludicrous.
Mugabe told the whole world that he was going to Vote for @nelsonchamisa.
Gvt must allow RG’s family to mourn and bury him in peace.”
“Now they start again! What we will here next time is that RGM never said anything about the HEROES ACRE burial – I guess RGM’s vote was changed, they followed it in the ballot box – they rigged his vote,”said Nkululeko Sibanda, the MDC Presidential spokesperson.
Farai Dziva|Former Vice President Joice Mujuru has described Robert Mugabe as ” her mentor and father of many.”
Mujuru posted the remarks on her Facebook page.
“My mentor, a father to many, founder of the republic, a pan africanist, a champion of black empowerment, an icon of the liberation struggle. Rest in Power Cde Robert Gabriel Mugabe.
My deepest condolences to Amai Mugabe and family. We have lost an icon. A true son of the soil,” wrote Mujuru.
As the burial place of the late Head Of State Robert Mugabe was still to be decided Sunday evening, government has moved to bar foreign leaders from attending his burial next Sunday.
The foreign affairs ministry literally said, we will be busy after the National Sports stadium function on Saturday. Their announcement is in the official notice below.
This comes as President Robert Mugabe’s nephew, Leo told ZimEye in an interview the decision on the burial place was still to be decided as late as Sunday night.
He said the chiefs are the ones who will pass the decision. ALSO WATCH THE INTERVIEW BELOW –
VIDEO LOADING BELOW. ..
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Trade of the Republic of Zimbabwe presents its compliments to all Diplomatic Missions accredited to Zimbabwe and has the honour to convey the following arrangements for the funeral of the late former President of the Republic of Zimbabwe, Cde Robert Gabriel Mugabe:
1. The State Funeral Service will be held on Saturday 14 September 2019, in the morning at the National Sports Stadium in Harare. The times will be advised.
2. Heads of State/Government wishing to attend the Ceremony are advised to arrive in Harare on Friday 13 September 2019. 3. Heads of State/Government are expected to depart Immediately after the ceremony taking into consideration that Government au-thorities will be fully occupied with preparations for the burial ser-vice/ceremony reserved for Sunday 15 September 2019. 4. The full programme for the funeral service will be made available in due course. 5. The Government has block booked accommodation for 1+2 per delegation.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Trade of the Republic of Zimbabwe avails itself of this opportunity to renew to all Diplomatic Missions accredited to the Republic of Zimbabwe the assurances of its. highest consideration.
Standard|The fallacy of the hero-turned-villain narrative of Robert Mugabe is the greatest trick this devil ever played.
The closest I have to feeling anything is quiet, seething rage.
Rage that this man who killed thousands and destroyed so many livelihoods has died without facing justice for the atrocities. I am not religious, but want now more than anything to
hang tightly to the promise of purgatory — the halfway house and hell’s holding cell.
He escaped justice in this life, I pray it is waiting for him in the next. I hope he is “under arrest” right now and will be denied bail just as he arrested and denied the thousands he persecuted in his four decades in power.
Many say they are conflicted about Mugabe, whom they call a pan-Africanist, father of the Zimbabwean nation and a hero-turned-villain. I personally do not suffer from this conflict.
Credited by some for his gallant role in leading Zanu in the last very short leg of the liberation struggle from 1975 to 1979 — only four years — he gets far more credit than he
deserves.
The gallantry and heroism, according to his closest comrades, is manufactured.
His recruiter into the liberation struggle and companion on the surreptitious journey to Mozambique, Edgar Tekere, former secretary-general of Zanu PF, spoke in his book, of a reluctant, scared and unwilling participant of the struggle into which he was foisted because he, with his multiple academic degrees, spoke and wrote well compared to the other
guerillas.
Much like his cousin and nationalist James Chikerema who spoke of the narcissistic and self-absorbed young bookish boy who threw tantrums and abandoned other boys when they herded
cattle. Revelations that would help illuminate the man’s behaviour in later years.
He wanted everything done his way. He never tolerated dissent during the liberation struggle and after. He stoked controversy on his role in the death of Josiah Tongogara, the Zanla
commander, in 1979 in order to ostensibly consolidate his control over Zanu PF. Tongogara preferred a united front under Joshua Nkomo.
After independence having decided Zimbabwe would be a one-party state, he demanded and required full compliance and loyalty. When his comrades questioned it, they were sidelined.
He brutalised Nkomo and his party for resisting the one-party state. He coveted and desired absolute power. Always wary and spiteful of contenders to power in Zanu PF.
He expelled erstwhile right-hand comrades like Tekere, Eddison Zvobgo, Dzikamai Mavhaire, Margaret Dongo, Enos Nkala, Solomon Mujuru, Didymus Mutasa, and Emmerson Mnangagwa. He toyed
with them by bringing some of them back when he felt they had learnt their lesson.
The lesson being there is only one leader. And his name is Mugabe. He maintained a divide- and-rule system built around fear and suspicion. His comrades both feared him and mistrusted
each other and could never muster a revolt against him.
Attempts to do so were sure to be fatal with many dying under suspicious circumstances — usually car accidents, alleged poisoning or other undisclosed sudden illness — methods which his
comrades readily used against each other.
To ensure his comrades toed the line, he built a zero-sum, kill or be killed, do-or-die party system in which you were either in or out and once out one either fled into exile or were
stripped of everything the party had allowed them to accumulate.
Gukurahundi
He was aloof and cold. Vengeful and unforgiving. In 1980, fearful of Nkomo, his party and better trained guerillas, he spent considerable resources to build his own army militia
answerable to him and ready to do his political and ethnic bloodletting.
The Gukurahundi or 5th Brigade was a private army with instructions to kill, rape, torture and plunder Nkomo and his supporters into submission. He did not stop until 20 000 people were
dead. He would never have stopped had Nkomo not capitulated and sworn allegiance to his authority. Only total submission and subjugation assuaged Mugabe.
There is nothing in his record that shows benevolence or democratic credentials. He never sought to build a nation, but stoked and amplified tribal differences advantaging his Zezuru
clansmen and entrenching a sense of exclusion and marginalisation amongst other clans.
In the 1980s he spoke of destroying opposition Zapu and he kept his promise through Gukurahundi, killing thousands of its largely Ndebele supporters. He left a country more ethnically
divided than it was when the liberation struggle began. He politicised ethnicity, conveniently labelling the multi-ethnic Zapu as a Ndebele party as a pretext to destroy it.
His demagoguery left Zimbabwe collectively carrying his individual guilt and responsibility and a real sense of exclusion and grievance. He pretended to manage inclusion by appointing
“yes men” from different ethnic groups with little intention or desire at deepening inclusion.
In 1990, he warned supporters of the Zimbabwe Unity Movement (ZUM), led by his erstwhile comrade Tekere, that one way to die was to vote for ZUM. The result was an unleashing of
violence which culminated in the shooting of Patrick Kombayi by officers of his Central Intelligence Organisation.
He would later give the two officers amnesty after they were convicted for attempted murder. He readily gave all his comrades amnesties whenever they transgressed — including committing serious crimes like murder and corruption, a clear indication of his disdain for rule of law.
He berated judges who made decisions he did not like and unleashed his militia to intimidate the Chief Justice in his office to force him to resign.
In the 2000s he unleashed Zanu PF militia against MDC’s Morgan Tsvangirai, killing hundreds. Simultaneously, sensing that he was running out of cards he turned on white commercial
farmers who had supported him earlier when they showed disloyalty and support for the MDC.
A mastermind — in one master stroke — he struck at both the white farmers and the MDC and claimed the ultimate prize of winning back votes by giving back the land and decimating the
opposition whilst claiming the high anti-colonial moral high ground in Africa and elsewhere because no sane Zimbabweans could question the need to redress the land problem which had
been the basis for the armed struggle. But he kept the best farms for himself, his cronies in Zanu PF and the military who went on a looting spree, grabbing multiple farms for
themselves and their families.
Always a political opportunist, realising that the opposition drew its support from urban centres, in 2005, he unleashed his wrath on the urban population, destroying homes in an
operation known as Operation Murambatsvina (Reject Dirt) that the UN characterised as approximating crimes against humanity.
At the end of the day, his arrogance and hard-heartedness meant that even his comrades were afraid to contradict and challenge him. It also meant that he surrounded himself with like-
minded violence mongers who readily did his bidding and personally benefited from it.
He was unforgiving and willing to falsely rewrite the nationalist struggle for independence so that only he was the pre-eminent and leading nationalist — despite having only taken
charge of Zanu PF in 1977, two years before the ceasefire.
He always placed his contribution above and beyond far worthier forebears like Nkomo, Ndabaningi Sithole, Lookout Masuku, George Silundika, Herbert Chitepo, Leopold Takawira, and Jason
Ziyaphapha Moyo.
He appropriated the National Heroes Acre as a private cemetery only for people he approved, excluding Masuku, Sithole, Chinx Chingaira and others.
In the end, as his relentless pursuit for them intensified, his comrades overcame their fear and deposed him. That they had to use the army demonstrated the entrenchment and
instrumentalisation of violence to retain and obtain political power.
None of the touted democratic process in Zanu PF would work to remove him. To remove him, his comrades would need to violate their party and national constitution and depose him via a
coup. This was the legacy he left, 40 years into his rule.
Compared to other liberation movements in the region which saw many successive, democratic and party-sanctioned changes of presidential power, he bestrode Zanu and Zimbabwe like a
colossus expecting to concede power to the only thing that did not fear him — death.
In 2001, when coming from Johannesburg on landing at Harare International Airport, now named after him, he declared that the white people in Zimbabwe and those in MDC should go back to
England or be imprisoned. He singled out Roy Bennett and David Coltart, whom he had personally telegrammed to come back in 1980.
Separately, he was unleashing violence against the new MDC and selectively distributing food aid when hundreds of thousands faced hunger in the middle of one of the worst droughts the
country has faced.
I felt compelled to act against what was clearly an intensification of systematic attacks against innocent civilians and the opposition. I decided to write him a letter from East Timor
— where I was working in the Tribunal that was dealing with crimes against humanity — to register my concerns and to “reprimand” him.
Expectedly, I never received a response but more importantly, the MDC white politicians were spared arrest. A few months later, to my shock, I received information that there were
discussions between the MDC and one of the former Rhodesian colonels, Lionel Dyke, implicated in Gukurahundi — on giving Mugabe amnesty for the most egregious of his crimes.
I tried unsuccessfully to find any of the implicated colleagues in these secret talks — which were presumably planned for South Africa — to get the real story. None was available.
Besides witnessing and being affected by Gukurahundi directly as a child, as a law student, I had been a junior researcher and volunteer at the Bulawayo Legal Projects Centre, which had
produced the Catholic Commission for Justice and Peace, Breaking the Silence Report on the atrocities.
I had met many of the victims who streamed in to tell their stories. I was upset that there could be a discussion of amnesty without hearing the victims. I was left with only one option: To write.
I called Iden Wetherell at Zimbabwe Independent and asked whether he would publish a piece the following Friday. It was Wednesday and he said he had already completed his layout and
I was too late.
I implored him that this was of national importance and could not wait until the following week. It would be too late. Iden — who many may not know is not just former Zipra cadre,
but a holder of a doctorate from before one could purchase them — gave me a lifeline: “You can send it now. Just email it.”
But I had not written it. I was going to write it at night. He could not promise, but asked me to send it. I did not sleep that night and sent to Iden a piece entitled: “Amnesty for
Mugabe for Gukurahundi out of the question.”
I then crossed my fingers and held my breath. On Friday, I was delighted to see that Iden had published it on his front page. He had apparently “agreed” on its national importance. In my piece, I berated anyone, including MDC leaders, for arrogantly thinking they could have a mandate to negotiate an amnesty for Mugabe for Gukurahundi without a mandate from the victims.
What followed was even more interesting. At a rally the next day, Tsvangirai distanced himself from amnesty talks and said the MDC would pursue justice. I felt vindicated for the sleepless night.
More would follow. A few weeks later, at Heroes Acre where my mother goes every year on Heroes Day (for my father), she reported that Mugabe had spoken to her at my father’s grave and asked: “MaSibanda,how are you and the children?”She had responded that we were all fine. “How is your son?” he had further asked. “But I have many sons, Mr. President” she had replied: “Ngitsho uSipho, unjani uSipho?” he interjected.
She was puzzled but replied that I was fine. “Is he still in East Timor? “Yes he is, Sir,” she replied. “Oh, okay. That’s good! Tell him we are proud of him and he must keep up the good work,” he said as he walked away.
The Zapu comrades in the presidency had then cornered my mother and said:“Please tell our son Sipho to call us. We know he may be unhappy about some things, but there is no need to write to newspapers when we are here”.
My mother called to say I should not come back home because there was something in the way Mugabe had asked after me. I laughed her concerns off and a few months later I was on a flight back home on leave.
I would continue to write critiquing him, at times using pseudonyms when I worried about exposing relatives and loved ones. I knew Mugabe’s wrath from when I was a 10-year-old boy. My father, Sidney Malunga — as Zapu spokesman who exposed his atrocities — got the worst of Mugabe’s brutality.
Starting barely a few months into independence in 1980, countless night-time raids at home and arrests, detentions incommunicado, torture, sham trials, acquittals followed by further unlawful detentions for years on end.
So we “lived” with Mugabe in our house.
He was a constant feature. My father ranting about him or his party. My older brother Busi (20) and cousin Ronald (17) arrested and detained at Brady Barracks in lieu of my father.
His intelligence goons intimidated and turned our house upside down, the sweeteners he would offer my father — an ambassadorial post here or there —which he would dismiss saying that he was not for sale.
The continuous consciousness of an ever-present and ever-looming danger. That is what Mugabe represented to me from an early age. This would not change in my adulthood as I became a critic of his misrule and advocate for him to face justice for his heinous crimes. It has not changed now.
Much will be said by others about his misrule and economic destruction of the country and its people’s livelihoods that there is little point in repeating.
More about how he allowed, facilitated and encouraged corruption by his comrades, rewarding and never punishing it. He revelled in false positive acclaim that he was corruption-free, but was just surrounded by thieves.
But which honest person only surrounds himself with only corrupt people and worse still promotes them? There is no doubt in my mind that he too was corrupt.
Willowvale Motor Scandal, to War Victims Compensation corruption scandals and many others, he was clearly the head of a corrupt system not the victim of dishonest company.
This would become even more apparent when his wife looted the national housing scheme to build a private mansion which she would later sell for a huge profit, when he leveraged state resources for his farming businesses, when he forced the army and police to buy his produce, when he and his wife grabbed multiple farms.
He selectively and conveniently peddled pan-African credentials to shore up support for his disastrous economic and political policies. Whilst killing and beating his own African citizens, stealing elections, starving opposition supporters and plundering public resources, he railed against imperialist forces blaming them for all his failures because of travel and others sanctions they imposed on him personally and his lieutenants.
He left nothing to show for ruling a country for almost 40 years except decay. His touted legacy of significant investments in education manifest in a collapsed education system in which in some rural children still learn under trees, teachers earn $25 and learners can barely afford fees.
In a twist of irony, he may have invested in his political longevity as educated Zimbabweans fled the country in thousands to seek opportunities all over the world. They would remit money and food home to relatives when the economy and living conditions tanked and hyper inflation set in – effectively saving his bacon.
That he died in a Singapore hospital where he battled illness for over half a year is testament of his catastrophic and shameful failure not just to build a viable health system but to simply maintain what he inherited from the Rhodesians.
Worst of all, even though he was deposed in 2017, he bequeathed to the country a monstrous political system run by a small political, predatory and corrupt elite comprised of his cronies with greater interest in advancing personal and not public interest.
In that sense, he never left even in death.
His legacy of stolen elections and violence continues to determine the primary basis of political engagement as shown by the army shootings if August 2018, and the heavy handed security response to protests in January and August 2019.
When a person dies, the task of encapsulating and narrating their life becomes critical.
There are always multi- dimensional narratives about any person – and especially a larger than life figure like Mugabe. In African custom the saying goes that “a dead person becomes a good person” akin to “never speak I’ll of the dead.”
But facts are stubborn. Mugabe brooked no resistance from anyone – inside his own movement and outside. He readily eliminated every one of his enemies – inside and outside his movement going back to the liberation struggle.
He mastered, deployed and instrumentalised violence, demagoguery and hate for political ends. For the most part it worked well for him until it was used against him. Having drawn and tasted blood of 20,000 Ndebeles in the 1980s, he considered the death of a few MDC supporters in 2008, child’s play, boasting that, of the multiple academic degrees he held, he coveted most his degree in violence.
Mugabe never changed. He never turned from hero to villain. He was always a villain. The greatest trick this devil ever played was to persuade people that he did not exist.
But fortunately death is an equal opportunity arbiter. The only time abusers experience the same and equal treatment as their victims.
The main regret is that he died without facing justice for his atrocities which would have helped his victims find closure.
The only silver lining is this dark cloud is that some of his accomplices are still alive to account for their atrocities and for destroying the hopes, dreams and livelihoods of millions Zimbabweans.- Africa Report
Zimbabwean president Emmerson Mnangagwa is so afraid of being poisoned by rivals that he no longer eats in public, sources have said.
The extreme precautions being taken emerged as Zimbabwe prepared for the funeral of Robert Mugabe, its former liberator whose 37-year rule left a legacy of grinding poverty and vicious political in-fighting.
It underscores the paranoia at the highest level and the fears of a coup less than two years after Mugabe was ejected by the military-backed current regime.
The body of Mugabe, who died in Singapore last week aged 95, was due to be flown back to Zimbabwe this weekend for burial in the National Heroes Acre – a graveyard for the heroes of the struggle against white rule built by North Korean architects.
There was scant evidence of mourning in the capital Harare yesterday.
Mnangagwa seized power in a bloodless coup from Mr Mugabe in November 2017 just five months after Mnangagwa was allegedly poisoned during a rally in southern Zimbabwe causing him to be airlifted to South Africa for emergency treatment. Rumours abounded that he had been poisoned by an ice cream from a dairy owned by Grace Mugabe, the former first lady of Zimbabwe who was widely believed to be plotting her own ascent to power. Grace Mugabe strenuously denied the accusations at the time.
Since taking office, Mnangagwa has done nothing to arrest Zimbabwe’s economic slide. His fears are understood to have been heightened in July after his vice president, Constantino Chiwenga, fell ill and was flown to China for emergency treatment.
“Chinese contacts have told us that Chiwenga is being treated for poisoning in China but they have not given us the name of the substance. We are told he is unlikely to survive,” said a family source.
A highly-placed source said Mnangagwa had decided to stop eating at public engagements in the last two months, not long after Chiwenga was taken ill. “He no longer goes to restaurants,” added a second well-informed source in Harare last night.
“Sometimes he goes to the OK Bazaars for takeaway food, as that is random, and he will eat that food and sometimes from other takeaways.”
A Ghanaian footballer identified as Arthur has been reportedly shot in both legs at a close range by South African police near Kempton Park as xenophobic attacks in South Africa continues.
It was revealed that the footballer who has been playing soccer in South Africa for two years was shot for no crime committed.
Narrating how it happened, Arthur said, he did not commit any crime or have any engagement with the police which resulted in the shooting.
Ghana’s Ambassador to South Africa, George Ayisi -Boateng lamented about the incident. He noted that arrangements had to be made by the embassy to rush Arthur to the hospital when the incident occurred.
Hon. Ayisi Boateng who was captured in a photo with Arthur while on his hospital bed expressed worry at the situation.
Meanwhile, the case is said to have been reported to the appropriate authorities as they wait for the investigation.
There have been recent violent attacks in South Africa following the killing of a taxi driver who is a native of the country.
Zesa has restored electricity supplies in Plumtree ending a month-long blackout that also saw the border town running dry.
The electricity crisis was blamed on a damaged transformer and theft of copper cables between Bulawayo and Figtree.
Zesa replaced the copper cables with aluminium ones to curb the thefts. Power was restored last Sunday.
Plumtree Town Council also immediately started pumping water and brought relief to hundreds of residents that were now relying on unsafe sources of water.
Fanisani Dube, the council chairman, said the restoration of electricity supplies came as a relief to residents and businesses.
“Electricity was restored on Sunday after a period of a month, which had also affected the water service delivery,” he said.
“Residents had to go for that period without both electricity and water, which had become a huge burden to council. It’s really a relief for the town.”
Dube, who runs an upmarket eatery in the border town, said businesses suffered huge losses due to the prolonged power cuts.
“All businesses had to buy fuel for generators to run their operations, a situation which was unforeseen and unbudgeted for,” he said.
“Those who had perishables lost them. It was a huge loss for businesses.”
Zesa has lost millions of dollars due to theft of copper cables, which are sold on the black market in South Africa. Locally, the cables are used to manufacture coffin handles.
Plumtree Combined Residents and Development Association chairperson Richard Khumalo said people with boreholes took advantage of the power cuts to milk residents of money as they sold the scarce commodity.
Mnangagwa after holding his discussions with the Ehtiopians
The countries’ leaders both promised change, but only one has delivered.
Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed and Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa pose for a photo with other African leaders on the sidelines of a African Union summit in Addis Ababa on Nov. 17, 2018.
Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed and Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa pose for a photo with other African leaders on the sidelines of a African Union summit in Addis Ababa on Nov. 17, 2018. MICHAEL TEWELDE/AFP/GETTY IMAGES
Former Zimbabwean leader Robert Mugabe, in power for 37 years, died at 95 on Sept. 6. But his legacy, and his ruthless brand of authoritarian politics lives on through his successor, Emmerson Mnangagwa.
His country, in turn, is suffering. Despite a few nods to economic reform, including a tightening of government spending, Zimbabwe’s economy is collapsing yet again, with fuel, bread, and electricity shortages. In June, the government brought back the much-maligned Zimbabwean dollar, after a decade of using the U.S. dollar and other currencies, instantly cutting savings accounts tenfold. Inflation that month reached 175 percent before the government abruptly stopped publishing official statistics.
In another African country struggling with the legacy of dictatorship, however, the future looks more hopeful. Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, who came into office in 2018, has pushed to liberalize his country’s economy as well as its political landscape. He has overseen the adoption of new regulations regarding civil society, moved toward a diplomatic thaw with Eritrea, and appointed a former opposition party candidate to the country’s electoral board.
The nascent gains in Ethiopia offer a stark contrast to Mnangagwa’s leadership record in Zimbabwe, even though both came to power promising sweeping reforms and a break with their predecessors’ dictatorial ways. And although Abiy and Mnangagwa inherited semi-authoritarian political systems, with long-standing ruling parties and powerful militaries, they have very different relationships to the old guards and have taken starkly different approaches toward their economies. Abiy’s ascent involved breaking with the previous agenda of his party, the Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF), using legitimate institutions. In contrast, Mnangagwa’s seizure of power was enabled by a coup that further bound him to the military, hurting the chances of genuine reform.
Now, at a time when outside powers are calibrating how they respond to political transitions around the world, particularly in Sudan and Algeria, the divergent paths of Ethiopia and Zimbabwe illustrate their precariousness and offer lessons for how the international community can support democratization processes in Africa and beyond.
Ethiopia’s political transition began in February 2018, when Abiy took over from former Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn, who resigned following years of unrest and a deteriorating economic situation. Abiy, despite his security service experience, is a more earnest reformer not necessarily beholden to the old guard in the EPRDF. Though Abiy’s party, the Oromo Democratic Party, is one of the four main constituent parties of the EPRDF, it has not traditionally been the strongest one. While his tenure is a continuation of EPRDF rule, as a reformer from a “junior partner” within the coalition, the tenor of his governance demonstrates breaks with the EPRDF hard-liners’ agenda in a number of ways.
In June 2018, Abiy ended the state of emergency that his predecessor had placed the country under. He appointed an opposition leader, Birtukan Mideksa, who had previously been imprisoned for her work, as the head of the country’s electoral board, signaling commitment to a free and fair election in 2020. He oversaw the loosening of Ethiopia’s tight restrictions on foreign funding of civil society organizations that work on human rights issues, and the Ethiopian Parliament removed three major rebel groups from the country’s official list of terrorist organizations.
Soon after the state of emergency was lifted, Abiy reshuffled critical posts in the country’s security sector, replacing the army chief of staff and the director of the National Intelligence and Security Agency. The move was widely interpreted as weakening the position of the dominant faction within the EPRDF, the Tigrayan People’s Liberation Front (TPLF). It also hinted at the scale of his ambition to usher in a new era of Ethiopian governance and reshape the balance of power within the EPRDF.
Shoring up the country’s faltering economy, whose past years of double-digit growth were bolstered by government investment enabled by taking on foreign loans, is another area where Abiy has made some initial progress. While Mnangagwa sits atop a collapsing economy that benefits only a few, Abiy has pushed to liberalize Ethiopia’s. He aims to fully privatize state-owned sugar plants, industrial parks, and railways, as well as partially privatize the four crown jewels of Ethiopia’s economy, including Ethiopian Airlines. Such reforms have profound political implications, dislodging long-established economic interests and marking a reversal from the EPRDF’s previous agenda of state-led growth (which has been linked to inefficiencies and corruption).
Ethiopia’s process of liberalization has not been linear—nor has it been universally popular or entirely peaceful. The arrests of several high-profile military and political figures early in the administration raised tensions between the TPLF and Abiy’s supporters, with the former claiming ethnic discrimination. In June 2018, a grenade was tossed into the crowd at a rally for the prime minister, injuring more than 100 people and killing two. One year later, in June 2019, the army chief of staff was killed by his bodyguard, and the Amhara regional governor was slain by the regional head of security. Abiy’s response to these assassinations, which included mass detentions and an internet shutdown, echoed the tactics of previous EPRDF administrations.
The government has shared updates with the diplomatic community on funeral arrangements for the late former president of Zimbabwe, Robert Mugabe.
Robert Mugabe
The advisory is as follows:
The State Funeral Service will be held on Saturday 14 September 2019, in the mowing at the National Sports Stadium in Harare. The times will be advised.
Heads of State/Government wishing to attend the Ceremony are advised to arrive in Harare on Friday 13 September 2019.
Heads of State/Government are expected to depart immediately after the ceremony taking into consideration that Government authorities will be fully occupied with preparations for the burial service/ceremony reserved for Sunday 15 September 2019.
Mugabe died on Friday in Singapore where he was receiving treatment. His body is expected back home on Wednesday.
He was declared a national hero and days of mourning until he is buried have been set aside. It is not yet clear where he will be laid to rest.
NetOne recently announced that today they would be reviewing the pricing of their data bundles and as expected the new tariffs are more expensive.
New daily bundles:
Duration
Data
Price
24 Hrs
40MB
$1.50
24 Hrs
200MB
$3.50
24 Hrs
2000MB
$10
2GB of mobile data might be a good deal to some but for most this is just overkill and NetOne could do with a bundle between the 200MB offering and the one for 2000MB.
New Weekly Bundles:
Duration
Data
Price
7 Days
28MB
$1.50
7 Days
60MB
$3
7 Days
180MB
$7.50
7 Days
250MB
$10
7 Days
520MB
$20
7 Days
1000MB
$35
7 Days
2000MB
$60
New Monthly Bundles:
Duration
Data
Price
30 Days
12MB
$0.75
30 Days
25MB
$1.50
30 Days
52MB
$3
30 Days
135MB
$7.50
30 Days
275MB
$15
30 Days
1000MB
$50
30 Days
2500MB
$100
30 Days
5000MB
$150
Anyone care to explain why someone would need 12MB for 30 days? As always weekly and monthly bundles have offered less value to subscribers but now it seems even daily bundles are fast becoming pipedreams for consumers. Remember the $1 for 10 MB days? We might be headed back there.
The Grain Millers’ Association of Zimbabwe (GMAZ) yesterday said government had increased maize and wheat prices to millers by 86% and 38% respectively .
In a statement, GMAZ said maize grain is now at ZW$1 300 per tonne from ZW$700 per tonne with wheat going up from ZW$1 600 per tonne to ZW$2 200 per tonne.
“In as much as we (millers) have no problem with these price increases, we, however, foresee maize-meal and flour-related products going up in the near future as a result of these margins,” GMAZ media and public relations manager Garikai Chaunza.
Prices of basic commodities have been going up rapidly as the local currency continues to lose value.
Kirsty Coventry did not fall into politics by normal means
It is little wonder Kirsty Coventry, Zimbabwe’s sport minister, looks at her counterparts in other countries and thinks: “Man, you have it easy.”
Over the past two months alone, Zimbabwe’s cricket teams have been suspended from global competition, country’s football association has been put in danger of disbandment, and the men’s football team have been banned from next year’s southern African championship after Coventry pulled the plug on Zimbabwe hosting this year’s edition just three months ahead of time.
There is more. Zimbabwe’s male footballers threatened to walk away from a dismal Africa Cup of Nations campaign after a pay dispute, their female counterparts refused to play their recent Olympic qualifier for the same reason, and having overcome major financial troubles to punch far above their weight on their World Cup debut, the nation’s netballers are still waiting on promised bonuses.
“I do feel like we’re just trying to put fires out,” admits Coventry. Such is a politician’s life in one of the world’s more unstable countries in the aftermath of the long regime Robert Mugabe, who died on Friday, two years after he was deposed. It is a position Coventry never had any aspirations to fulfil. In fact, politics is a world she still has little desire to be part of. But she is here now, so she is going to do all she can to make a positive difference.
Coventry, 35, is arguably Zimbabwe’s greatest ever sporting star, with her seven swimming medals making her Africa’s most decorated Olympian. Having only retired after Rio 2016, her exploits were recent enough for her fame to endure in a country short on truly world-class sporting talent.
A life of charity work, television appearances and growing her own swimming foundation beckoned until one day last September when president Emmerson Mnangagwa suddenly announced Coventry as the country’s new sports minister. Until that moment, Coventry had no idea. Welcome to Zimbabwean politics.
“The president announced it on TV and some friends called me to tell me I was minister,” she says.
“I had seen a few things on social media before the announcement and thought it was strange, but the list the president was working off had been leaked. They were in the process of reaching out and talking to people, but when it got leaked I think he felt it was necessary to make the announcement so we had conversations after that.
“The position came as a surprise – I really wasn’t expecting it. I had only found out I was pregnant five days before, so when I say there was a lot of emotion, there was a lot of emotion!”
Even without the added distraction of the birth of her first child Ella in May, Coventry is the first to admit adjusting to her new life has been no easy ride. With the country in the midst of an economic crisis that has caused chronic food and water shortages, as well as huge rises in inflation, Zimbabwe’s government has recently been accused of state-sponsored brutality after an increase in violence against protesters.
As the only independent member of the cabinet, unattached to the governing ZANU-PF party, Coventry faces frequent calls to resign. Her position as the only white face in the cabinet has also prompted suggestions she is being used as a pawn by the government to placate the country’s white population.
“I really don’t think so,” she counters. “I know from the conversations I’ve had that I was appointed because of my career. I’ve also been involved in the International Olympic Committee, so because of my understanding of international sport and young people there’s a lot of things the president looked at to decide I was qualified to do this position.
“If we look at any government, you can say, ‘He was put here for this reason’ or, ‘She was put here for this reason’. But I have stopped listening to those inputs. As long as we can achieve something, move forward and it is positive, that’s all I really care about.
“I am independent and I am Zimbabwean, and being Zimbabwean to me means you don’t have to belong to a party, you just have to want to do better for your country.”
It is this determination to make a real long-term difference for sport in Zimbabwe that forces Coventry to admit she “can’t say whether things will get better over the next few months”. But after five sports ministers in the 18 months before she took charge, she is adamant she can be the one to bring much-needed change.
If that involves the short-term collateral of tearing down the established regimes – and she is certain it does – then so be it.
“I want to try and be as open and honest with everyone as I can because that’s the only way we can create change,” she says. “It is a challenge and it is frustrating, and we do hit a wall every now and again. We have to be honest with where we are right now – and sport is a challenge.
“With sports like cricket and football, there’s a lot of baggage there. There has previously been corruption and mismanagement of funds, there hasn’t been transparency and good governance. We are honing in on where the good governance is and getting audits done because we need a clean up. I don’t think some of our boards have been strong enough, so then you have people with individual intentions instead of for the good of the sport or the country.”
They are bold words for someone who has little political experience, but Coventry is not afraid to upset people to make a real impact. She remains critical of the International Cricket Council for banning the country’s cricketers for what was deemed to be political interference – “I was very adamant that’s not what happened,” she insists – but says the fallout will prove beneficial for the sport in Zimbabwe.
“Cricket is one of those sports with a long history, a lot of baggage and a lot of mismanagement,” she says. “It needed to happen because it shook the tree and allowed me to get everyone around the table to figure out how to move forward. But it was heartbreaking; it impacted our players in a very negative way.”
She says the Zimbabwe Football Association also has “a lot of baggage and is known for doing terrible deals”. On its money troubles, she adds: “It just comes down to being proactive and not reactive, having proper structures in place and professionalising our sport.”
As with everything Coventry wants to achieve, her motivation comes from those at the heart of the sport in mind. She likens the hardship and upheaval to the decade she spent training as a swimmer before Olympic medals arrived. And she desperately wants to halt the talent drain that means some of the country’s best sportspeople leave Zimbabwe to represent other nations.
“If I get to the point where there’s too many roadblocks or I just don’t feel I’m being supported, then maybe my mind would change to say I’m not achieving anything – so I would resign,” she says. “But that’s not what I’ve experienced so far – I’ve had full support from everybody. It’s been an interesting journey. We keep going and see where it takes us.”
One athlete’s unlikely quest to succeed where the politicians have failed.
Power generation at the country’s power plants was depressed as of September 5, 2019.
According to the Zimbabwe Power Company (ZPC), Munyati and Bulawayo Thermal Power Stations were producing 0 MW between them while generation at Kariba and Hwange had fallen significantly.
Here are power generation outputs at Zimbabwe’s power plants:
IFP president emeritus and traditional prime minister to the Zulu nation, Mangosuthu Buthelezi, met with the community to quell tensions in light of recent xenophobic attacks on foreign nationals on September 8 2019. Below is his full speech.
I come here today not as a politician, but as an elder. There is a terrible quarrel in our nation with foreign nationals who are living amongst us. Lives have been lost and property damaged. There has been looting and burning and violence. While all this is happening, the world is watching, and we are being judged.
I must speak very bluntly to my fellow South Africans, not to take sides, but to quell the tensions with the voice of truth.
What we have seen in the past few days is unacceptable. The attacks on foreign nationals and their businesses are purely xenophobic. It is a violation of human rights and a violation of our Constitution. Our Constitution enshrines the right to freedom from all forms of violence. That right applies to everyone in South Africa, whether citizens or not.
We cannot allow this to move in cycles. It is not the first spate of attacks; but it must be the last
Mangosuthu Buthelezi
I understand the tensions, the complaints and the anger. I understand that there is validity to the complaints, on both sides. I also understand that wrongs have been committed by both sides. This has not come out of nowhere.
But there is a saying in Zulu that you cannot slaughter all the sheep because one sheep has transgressed. In a situation of conflict, it is dangerous to tar everyone with the same brush. Even where there are valid complaints against an individual, we cannot take the law into our own hands. Looting and destruction of property is a crime, full stop. Assault is always wrong.
Don’t think these things have no consequences. This violence has diplomatic and economic ramifications. We have hundreds of thousands of South Africans living in countries throughout Africa. We have businesses and companies operating across this continent. We have vital trade relations within the African Union and within SADC, the Southern African Development Community. South Africa is not an island.
There will be sanctions against us for what we are doing. It started with the Zambian Football Association cancelling a soccer match against Bafana Bafana. Then Nigeria announced a boycott of the World Economic Forum on Africa being held in Cape Town. But as I feared they would, sanctions quickly turned to retaliation.
Already South African-owned companies in Nigeria have been targeted for looting and vandalism. MTN has had to close all its stores to protect staff, while the police stand guard at Shoprite stores. On Thursday our diplomatic missions in Abuja and Lagos were forced to close after threats were received. President Buhari has announced a visit to South Africa to speak to President Ramaphosa
We need to stop this thing in its tracks before serious action is taken against us. Do we really want to escalate into international conflict?
I feel ashamed. As Africans we are making ourselves a laughing stock in the rest of the world. Because the world knows what we seem so quick to forget: Africans are brothers and sisters.
In every family there are quarrels and squabbles. But the way we are behaving is shooting ourselves in the foot. We are making the name of South Africa a swear word on the continent.
This is not the first time we have had a spike of xenophobic attacks is our country. In 2008 and in 2015 lives were lost and livelihoods destroyed as communities went on the rampage against foreign nationals. I went then, too, to the communities and townships, and I spoke as I am speaking now.
But now my words are somehow different. The sentiments have not changed, but there is a sense of urgency because I fear what will happen if we fail to extinguish this fire.
The IFP has formally asked the Speaker of the National Assembly to call an urgent debate in parliament, not just to condemn xenophobia, but to hear what the state intends to do to swiftly end the violence.
We cannot allow this to move in cycles. It is not the first spate of attacks; but it must be the last.
We have been facing the rising problem of undocumented migration ever since 1994. I served as the first Minister of Home Affairs in a democratic era. For ten years my department grappled with this, trying to find a way to balance human rights with the good of the country.
I was struck even then by the number of undocumented Africans within our borders, especially from Zimbabwe, and the implications this had for our ability to create social and economic justice for South Africans. But when I pointed out our porous borders and said they need to be guarded, some people actually accused me of xenophobia, saying it was because I didn’t go into exile.
If anyone knows what our African brothers sacrificed for the sake of our struggle, it is I
IFP’s Buthelezi
Many of the countries whose citizens were coming to South Africa had given sanctuary to our political exiles during the struggle for freedom. Being an Anglican myself, I received a letter from the Anglican Bishop of Mozambique, Bishop Dinis Sengulane, lamenting that I was not helping his people who were flocking to South Africa.
These accusations were painful, and quite misplaced. Because if anyone knows what our African brothers sacrificed for the sake of our struggle, it is I. I went myself to Zambia and Tanzania in 1974, to thank President Kaunda and President Nyerere for giving sanctuary to all our exiles. Earlier this year, I again visited His Excellency Dr Kenneth Kaunda in Zambia, and he spoke touchingly about the risks they took on our behalf. Let me quote him directly. He said:
“Prince Buthelezi, we first met in 1974 here in Lusaka when I was a leader of a young independent nation of Zambia and was honoured to be leader of the frontline states which were all newly independent states. We hosted South African political exiles and freedom fighters. (It) was a huge risk to our own freedom as a nation. Financially we could not afford this task, since Ian Smith had closed the borders for us to transport goods through Rhodesia. The security risk was enormous on our people as the apartheid regime in South Africa was becoming more and more vicious. But we had to do that historic duty for the freedom of black people. I am a very proud man that we did this and all God’s children in South Africa… are free today.”
Friends, this is our own history. African countries like Lesotho, Swaziland, Nigeria, Zambia and Tanzania took huge risks on our behalf. Is this how we repay them?
I am not saying that anyone should be able to live in South Africa if they come here illegally, or if they are illegally running a business. If they are committing crime, they are criminals like any South African would be a criminal for doing the same thing. But we cannot adopt the attitude that Africans have no right to come here, and no right to be here, if they come through legitimate channels.
I know that even this is controversial. I remember visiting Geneva for a meeting called by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. As South Africa’s Minister of Home Affairs, I discovered that many people who claim to be refugees are not refugees in the legal sense of the word. Yet due to various and very real problems in their countries, they are forced to try their luck in South Africa.
Through immigration legislation, I sought to protect South Africa, closing the door to undocumented migration while opening it to the skills our country so desperately needs. There is, for instance a shortage of doctors in South Africa, and with our failing health care system we need to welcome professional doctors from Nigeria and other countries.
I still regret the irrational hostility towards my Immigration Act when I brought it to the Cabinet of President Mbeki. We moved in the wrong direction as a country and we never resolved the rising tensions. It’s time to do that now, before it is too late.
We dare not forget or disregard all that was done for us by African leaders like His Excellency President Olusegun Obasanjo. As a member of the Commonwealth Eminent Persons Group, General Obasanjo revealed to the world the real conditions of our people under apartheid. He supported us in our stand against the regime’s plan to deprive us of our citizenship.
In fact, on the very day that Transkei took so-called independence, President Obasanjo arranged for me and my wife to be in Nigeria so that I could avoid attending Transkei’s independence ceremony. General Obasanjo invited me to Nigeria again this year, where I delivered a lecture in celebration of his 82nd birthday.
This is one of the giants of Africa. What are we doing to his people?
I have been a guest of President Hastings Banda in Malawi. I was received by His Imperial Majesty Emperor Haile Selassie in Ethiopia. In Addis Ababa I was received by the Under-Secretary of the OAU, Dr Peter Onu. In Liberia, President Tolbert bestowed upon me a National Order, The Knight Commander of the Star of Africa. And when the OAU bestowed a posthumous award on my mentor Inkosi Albert Luthuli, I accompanied MaNokhukanya Luthuli to Maseru to receive the award from His Majesty King Moshoeshoe II.
If we turn our despair, our anger and frustration against our brothers, we will start a feud that can only end in tragedy
Mangosuthu Buthelezi
Our struggle is tied to the struggle of these countries throughout Africa. They fought colonialism just as we did. And they sacrificed to see us liberated. So when I say that we are one family, I am speaking the truth. Just recently, when my wife passed away, His Majesty the King of Lesotho paid a visit to my home to comfort me.
We are brothers in Africa.
Yes, South Africa is struggling economic hardship. Our country is in crisis. The cry of our people has not fallen on deaf ears. But if we turn our despair, our anger and frustration against our brothers, we will start a feud that can only end in tragedy. We are fighting our own family.
Friends, I am a Christian. I believe what the Bible says. It says, quite clearly:
“When a foreigner resides among you in your land, do not mistreat them. The foreigner residing among you must be treated as your native-born. Love them as yourself, for you were foreigners in Egypt…” (Leviticus 19 v 33 and 34)
“Let them live among you wherever they like and in whatever town they choose. Do not oppress them.” (Deuteronomy 23 v 16)
“Do not take advantage of a hired worker who is poor and needy, whether that worker is a fellow (citizen) or a foreigner residing in one of your towns… Do not deprive the foreigner or the fatherless of justice.” (Deuteronomy 24 v 14 – 17)
“Cursed is anyone who withholds justice from the foreigner.” (Deuteronomy 27 v 19)
“Do not oppress… the foreigner… Do not plot evil against each other.” (Zechariah 7 v 10)
I cannot put it more clearly. This is not my instruction, but God’s. Let us be led by our moral conscience.
Not the scenes we wanted to see: Hundreds of frustrated locals have taken part in reportedly xenophobic looting, expressing their disdain for foreigners.
Streets in the CBD of Johannesburg have been brought to a complete shutdown for the second weekend in a row. The ugly scenes erupted on Sunday afternoon, after attempts to quell the xenophobic tensions between foreign business owners and hostel dwellers fell spectacularly flat.
Up to 10 people were killed in violent protests at the start of this month. It has already been reported that one person caught up in the chaos has been stabbed. Outgoing IFP leader Mangosuthu Buthelezi was delivering a speech near Jeppestown – where last week’s troubles flared-up – but his words had little effect on the riled crowds.
Church-goers, shoppers and commuters have since been warned to avoid the area around the MTN Taxi Rank and Johannesburg CBD, following these latest attacks against foreign-owned businesses. Jeppestown has also been declared as a no-go zone for the rest of the afternoon.
The community are now allegedly demanding that Police Minister Bheki Cele – who has postponed a speech in the region on Sunday – and President Cyril Ramaphosa address them within 24 hours, and present a coherent plan to deal with the “effects” they claim foreign nationals are having on Johannesburg.
As the sun sets, Police are currently on the scene trying limit the extent of the damage as they begin to restore order to the metropolitan area. A recently-issued SAPS statement confirmed that stun grenades and rubber bullets were used to disperse the anti-immigration demonstrations:
“A crowd of about 1 200 hostel residents gathered at Murray Park and shortly into the address by Prince Buthelezi, a splinter group disrupted the address and left before proceedings were concluded. Many shops are currently closed while police remain on high alert to ensure minimum damages and criminality.”
“Incidents of attacks on businesses have since been reporte in parts of the CBD where police fired stun grenades and rubber bullets to restrain the growing crowd who attempted to move through the CBD via corner Bree and Twist Streets.”
Robert Mugabe’s nephew said Sunday that a delegation was expected to leave Zimbabwe on Monday to collect the hero-turned-despot’s body from Singapore where he died two days ago.
Mugabe, a guerilla leader who swept to power after Zimbabwe’s independence from Britain and went on to rule for 37 years, died on Friday, aged 95.
His health took a hit after he was ousted by the military in November 2017, ending his increasingly tyrannical rule. He had been travelling to Singapore for treatment since April.
“I can’t give an authoritative day, all I know is people are leaving tomorrow Monday to go and pick up the body,” Leo Mugabe told AFP.
“So assuming they get there on Tuesday and the body is ready, logically you would think they should land here on Wednesday,” he said, adding that a list of accompanying family members was being finalised.
Once praised as a liberator who rid Zimbabwe of white minority rule, Mugabe soon turned to repression and fear to govern.
He is widely remembered for crushing political dissent and ruining the economy, prompting mixed reactions to his passing.
At Sacred Heart Cathedral, Mugabe’s parish in the capital Harare, the priest encouraged congregants to pray for their founding leader.
“I know some of us may have different feelings about it, but it’s our duty to pray for one another,” Father Justin Jagaja told AFP.
President Emmerson Mnangagwa declared a period of “national mourning” on Friday, without providing further detail.
The government is expected to announce when Mugabe’s body will be returned to Zimbabwe and provide details of the funeral in coming days.
Burial tensions
Mugabe’s family and Mnangagwa appear to disagree on whether the former president will be buried in his rural homestead Zvimba in a ceremony involving local chiefs, or at the National Heroes Acre — a hilltop shrine in Harare commemorating guerillas killed during the liberation struggle.
Leo Mugabe refused to comment on the feud. “All I know is (that) we are closer to an agreement if the chiefs meet up with the president and discuss the issues,” said the nephew.
He explained that his uncle would have been appointed chief of Zvimba had he not become president.
Zimbabwe’s deputy information minister Energy Mutody said the body would rest in Harare.
“His Excellency President ED Mnangagwa has declared former President Robert Gabriel Mugabe a National Hero,” Mutody tweeted on Saturday.
“The former President will be buried at the national heroes acre at a date to be announced.”
The 57-acre site, presided over by three bronze guerilla soldiers, was later opened up to national heroes in the arts and academia.
The family of Zimbabwean Afro-jazz icon and human rights activist Oliver Mtukudzi also refused to bury him at the shrine.
Mtukudzi, who succumbed to diabetes in January, was declared national hero for his social and political influence.
1/1 Mugabe’s family and the presidency appear to disagree on whether the former president will be buried in his rural homestead Zvimba or in a shrine in Harare
Congregants attend Sunday Mass at Zimbabwe’s founding father Robert Mugabe’s church in Harare, Zimbabwe, September 8, 2019.
Reuters|In the church where Zimbabwe’s founder Robert Mugabe used to worship, people prayed on Sunday for his forgiveness following his death two years after he was toppled in a coup.
Mugabe, who had been receiving treatment in a Singapore hospital for months before he died on Friday aged 95, dominated Zimbabwe politics for almost four decades from independence in 1980 until he was removed by his own army in November 2017.
Revered by many as a liberator who freed his people from white minority rule, he was vilified by others for wrecking one of Africa’s most promising economies and ruthlessly crushing his opponents.
At the packed Sacred Heart Cathedral in downtown Harare, where Mugabe used to attend Catholic Mass with his first wife Sally and second wife Grace, congregants remembered him as a devout man who played a role in the church’s upkeep.
A plaque in the church commemorates Sally’s death in 1992.
“We are praying for our relatives who have died. Without forgetting to pray for our former president, Comrade Robert Mugabe, we bring him forward to God, we are asking God if there is anything that he did wrong in his life that he be forgiven,” the priest told the congregation, speaking in the local Shona language.
Chris Sambo, a former soccer administrator who used to arrange matches for Mugabe in his home village of Kutama, said the southern African country’s Catholic community had lost one of its most important members.
“To me he was a father figure. We are so saddened. … He was a very staunch Catholic,” Sambo told Reuters.
Tsitsi Samukange, another churchgoer, said that when Mugabe attended mass with Grace, people could not park nearby for security reasons. She praised him as a resolute leader who fought for his country.
“As our former president I think everyone can admit that without the work he did we would not be as independent as we are,” she said.
“You know when you fight, in a fight sometimes you lose your teeth, (right)? And we became poorer. But that’s a fight and he did it, and we should give him that.”
Many in downtown Harare said at the weekend that they were saddened by Mugabe’s death because of his central role in the struggle against colonial rule and because he had broadened access to education.
But his ousting in 2017 was accompanied by celebrations across the country of 13 million. His critics at home and abroad viewed him as a power-obsessed autocrat who unleashed death squads, rigged elections and ruined the economy to keep control.
Barcelona president Josep Maria Bartomeu has revealed club legend Lionel Messi is free to leave the club at the end of the season.
The Argentine signed a four-year deal in 2017 and will enter into his final year in June 2020.
Speaking to the club’s media, Bartomeu, however, says if Messi decides to leave, they will not be worried as it has been the same case with other club legends in the past.
He said: “Leo Messi has a contract through to the 2020-21 season, but the player is able to leave Barca before the final season.
“It’s the same case as with the final contracts that Xavi, (Carles) Puyol and (Andres) Iniesta had. They are players who deserve that liberty, and we shouldn’t worry, as they are very committed to Barca.
“We want Messi to play for Barca through to 2021 and beyond. We are very calm.”
Messi, 32, has been at Barcelona since 2001 and is the club’s record goalscorer.Soccer 24
The return fixture for the 2022 World Cup, preliminary round qualifier between Zimbabwe and Somalia is on Tuesday at National Sports Stadium in Harare.
The venue for this encounter was initially set for Barbourfields Stadium in Bulawayo but due some fixture changes it was moved to the capital city.
Kick-off time is in the afternoon at 3 pm.
The cheapest ticket has been pegged at $5 while Bay 15 to 18 is going for $10 and the VIP for $20.Ticket purchasing can be done online at ClicknPay.africa.
Meanwhile, the Warriors are trailing 1-0 in the encounter and will need to overturn the deficit without conceding a goal to reach the group stage of the qualifiers.Soccer24
FADZAI MAHERE
When things were good in Zimbabwe, Malawians, Mozambicans, Zambians and many others came here to settle and find work. They weren’t “stealing our jobs.” They were being productive and making a living.
We did not loot or burn shops where they set them up.
We did not hate them for working on our glorious farms.
We did not stop them from taking advantage of affordable and sometimes free public health and education. Education was for “all” regardless of where one originated from.
We coexisted peacefully in the townships. Neighbour meant neighbour.
We sometimes adapted our language to include our brothers and sisters from across the river, borrowed words and created hybrid communication to include our guests, now family, from afar.
We valued hard work. So when they worked hard, we worked hard too. Hard work by anyone is a badge of honour. The sky is big enough for all birds to fly.
We did not blame them for crime. An educated person knows that crime knows no nationality.
When Zimbabwe fought for liberation, it benefited all blacks, including those who had migrated here.
We did not blame foreigners for “taking our men or our women.” Mugabe married a Ghanaian and it was the most normal thing. Amai Sally is what we called her. We never sent her home. We buried her here. She was one of us because borders are artificial.
We joined hands with South Africa when they were fighting apartheid. We made noise on their behalf on the international stage. Their cause was our cause. Because that’s what black Africans do – they unite against injustice. We don’t impose it on ourselves.
We named our roads after Nkrumah, Mandela and Machel. These are our fathers. We don’t see them as foreigners.
In the circle of life, sometimes you’re an ant facing an elephant, vulnerable and desperate. Sometimes, the elephant dies and is eaten by the ant.
Africa has had a long history of injustice.
We are fighting global battles on many economic and social fronts. Being black in a world of prejudice is not and has never been easy.
Some countries are ahead. Some are behind. Nothing is fixed.
Like Zimbabwe did all those years ago, let’s learn to include fellow Africans in our prosperity.
On the sixth of September President Robert Gabriel Mugabe breathed his last breath. His journey ended at ninety five. This was a blessing from God.
Mugabe remained a household name in the world. He is a man who rose up and down in his political life. Cde Robert Mugabe tendered his resignation as the president of Zimbabwe on the 21st November 2017 then became the dark month to Mugabe. Who had ever known that he was to die three years later in the month of his resignation. This came about after a bloodless army intervention. The man who became a hero and fought many strong men was brought down by a woman.
The President travelled from a war hero to resignation the man whose name became synonymous with Zimbabwe, resigned as president after 37 years in power.
He made his mistakes but he was more Zimbabwean than fools claiming to be Zimbabweans now.
He will always remain a hero who brought independence and an end to white-minority rule. Even those who forced him out blamed his wife and “criminals” around him. It is sad that the president was surrounded by vultures who only wanted to fatten their pockets snd never had the country at large.
These vultures were powered by the first lady who became so blinded by power and interfered in the day to day running of the state affairs which were not hers. Other vultures were powered by ammunitions and blamed the first lady. She failed to learn from Mao’s wife from China. or Nicholai Ceausescu’s wife from Romania.
But to her critics, this highly uneducated, novice became the woman who destroyed an entire country in order to gain power. She praised corruption and snatched cases from courts.
She acquitted her friends at a rally and praised nepotism in a very embarrassing way. She claimed that she was now the president and surrounded herself with those who lied to her and in turn she gave pressure to her then 93 year old husband who succumbed to pressure and blundered along the way. The hero was reduced to a villain by a malicious woman. The hero was to be rested by his blood friends it was said to save him and to save the nation. Indeed he is resting and thank God he counted his years while others are counting their remaining days In the end, it was the security forces, who made him free from his imposing manipulative wife and comrades who all claimed to be working to protect the president.
The disrespect shown by the first lady to all Zimbabweans when she called them cowards made the people unite against the husband.
The people and the army were incensed when the president was forced by his wife to sack his long-time ally, Vice-President Emmerson Mnangagwa, paving the way for his much younger wife Grace to dictate who will succeed him, fearing it meant the end for them as the powers behind the throne. The reality is the president never wanted his wife to succeed him. He had insisted that people should chose their successor. His wife had asked him to appoint a successor but he refused. With dirty scheming from Jonathan Moyo and Kasukuwere people were made to believe that the demanding wife has set her eyes on the throne. Before the 2008 elections, Cde Mugabe said: “If you lose an election and are rejected by the people, it is time to leave politics.”
But after a near miss the president showed his courage and perseverance. He had a job to accomplish and he had to fight on till the job was done. He has the country at heart and was prepared to die for it.
And just to be sure, he sought peoples support This made him a man of the people.
In order to save the lives of his people the president gave land to the people. This gained him enemies and his name was soiled. This did not stop him from working for his country and his people.
In 2013, Mugabe showed the people that Mr Tsvangirai had lost a lot of credibility during his years working with Mr Mugabe and he lost dismally and this kept ZANU PF in power till the day he was removed by mistake. Yes because the operation was to remove criminals around him but he got the backlash and was removed too.
The key to understanding Mr Mugabe is the 1970s guerrilla war where he made his name. President Mugabe was.
Born in 1924 21 February. Later trained as a teacher
1964: Imprisoned by Rhodesian government. Did his law while in prison and finished a number of degrees. He stayed resolute and principled in his purpose In 1980 The president led ZANU to winning ways and winning became synonymous with ZANU PF. The cracking point came in 1996 when he Married Grace Marufu. That was the unseen starting of the problems. Marrying young girls is a Recipe of danger.
The coming into politics of Grace and her refusal to take advice dragged the president in a dip end. Mugabes agility was compromised by his age and his enemies and his wife were quick to notice it. She elbowed those around Mugabe and replaced them with the young men she protected from their crimes. Ignored national justice and created an inhuman way of justice. In all this Mugabe kept silent maybe out of age maybe out of love.
All what the first lady did did not taint Mugabe”s legacy. Zimbabwe under Mugabe the Liberation icon
Even after 37 years in power, Mugabe still maintained the same worldview – the patriotic socialist forces of his Zanu-PF party were still fighting the twin evils of capitalism and colonialism.
He gave confidence to Zimbabweans at home and abroad.
Zimbabwe’s economic problems were caused by a plot by Western countries, led by the UK, to oust him because of his seizure of farms.
The West wanted to starve the people to rebellion and they indeed succeeded. We all saw this coming. The agent of the West Jonathan Moyo had promised to destroy ZANU PF from within and he indeed succeeded. Mugabe despite all the warning signs did not see this coming. Surely his last days where captured by the wife. Zimbabwe was under a bedroom coup and no one dared to say it.
He always concentrated on the question of how to share out the national cake, but the wife stiffled him with people who wanted the cake to themselves rather than how to make it grow.
Mr Mugabe once famously said that a country could never go bankrupt but with the first lady who was advised by thieves the president presided over a shrinking economy. Whenever economics gets in the way of politics, politics wins every time and indeed people suffered.
In 2000, ZANU PF faced with a strong opposition for the first time, he used his intelligence to outwit the opposition and he kept the party in the winning track. This he did with the help of ED and all cadres who loved their country.
His enemies applied sanctions and all sorts of smear campaign to remove him but they failed. The sanctions scared off donors but in purely political terms, Mr Mugabe outsmarted his enemies – he remained in power for another 17 years.
At any cost.
And the tactics he and his supporters used were straight from the guerrilla war.
in a 2000 referendum, Which we lost the war veterans came up with ideas of winning back the votes. This they did peacefully and Zimbabwe remained in good hands. The war veterans were fighting for the rights of black Zimbabweans Eight years later, a similar pattern was followed after Mr Mugabe lost the first round of a presidential election to his long-time rival Morgan Tsvangirai.
When needed, all the levers of state – the security forces, were used in the service of the ruling party for the love of the country …
Zimbabwe still has one of the highest literacy rates in Africa, at 89% of the population.
Cde Mugabe has not been afraid to stand for his people.
The young beneficiaries were able to analyse Zimbabwe’s problems for themselves and most blamed sanctions and corruption and mismanagement for the lack of jobs and rising prices. We still wonder why the president listened to his wife above his comrades. Why did he allow the bitter Jonathan Moyo to run the country to near chaos.
Mugabe fought on behalf of the rural poor but much of the land he gave them ended up in the hands of few.
The president was a staunch Catholic, and worshiped at Harare’s Catholic Cathedral were graced when he turned up for Sunday Mass. It is the painful truth that the first lady ultimately proved his downfall.
Although Mr Mugabe outlived many predictions of his demise, the increasing strain of recent years took its toll and his once-impeccable presentation has begun to look rather worn at times.
If nothing else, Mr Mugabe has always been an extremely humble man.
He often said he would only step down when his “revolution” was complete.
He was referring to the redistribution of land but he also wanted people to pick his successor, who would of course have had to come from the ranks of Zanu-PF.
I count myself very lucky to have spoken to the president on several occassions. He remains my hero and your hero too.
I have no doubt that his succession has been taken by a worthy man. I had the opportunity to talk to cde Munangagwa several times. I have no doubt he is a good leader. I can assure you that he will not undo what the icon has done. Hopefully. While Zimbabwe has lost in Mugabe we have surely gained in his legacy.
I shed a tear for my hero Mugabe and indeed offer a prayer for his family. May they be given strength to move on.
May the soul of cde RG Mugabe rest in peace. Cde Mugabe you remain my hero.
Farai Dziva|Former Vice President Joice Mujuru has described Robert Mugabe as ” her mentor and father of many.”
Mujuru posted the remarks on her Facebook page.
“My mentor, a father to many, founder of the republic, a pan africanist, a champion of black empowerment, an icon of the liberation struggle. Rest in Power Cde Robert Gabriel Mugabe.
My deepest condolences to Amai Mugabe and family. We have lost an icon. A true son of the soil,” wrote Mujuru.
The late Major-General Trust Mugoba who passed on on Friday morning on the same day former President Robert Mugabe died will be buried at the National Heroes Acre on Wednesday, state media has reported.
Mugoba’s body departs for Featherstone today at 3pm.
On Monday, it will leave the Wiltshire family farm for One Commando Barracks in Harare, before a military parade is held at Parachute Regiment the following day.
He will be buried at the National Heroes’ Acre on Wednesday.
Farai Dziva|The main opposition party in Zimbabwe, MDC has accused Zanu PF of attempting to “rig Robert Mugabe’s vote in last year’s presidential plebiscite.
The opposition party has also accused Emmerson Mnangagwa of “seizing” Mugabe’s funeral programme.
The Director-General in the President’s Office, Isaac Moyo, claimed Mugabe could not sleep the night he held a press conference endorsing Chamisa.
“Of course, here and there, there were also moments we had our tensions.
I remember when I first went to see him after his Press conference, where he announced he was going to vote for Chamisa.
We really had an exchange that day, but what then emerged was that he said despite having threatened to vote for Chamisa, he actually did not vote for Chamisa and I was told on how on the eve of the elections, he had agonised, he could not sleep.
According to the former First Lady, he had woken up around 2 am somewhere and he said he could not sleep and the idea that he would go and vote for Chamisa was rebuffed, he could not do that.
And the former First Lady said she then encouraged him to follow his real wishes and to vote for comrades he has always been with and not to worry about the small matters between them, and so the former First Lady, with the concurrence of Cde Mugabe himself, said he had not voted for MDC, but he had voted correctly, I found that funny and I enjoyed the story,” claimed Moyo.
Responding to Moyo’s remarks MDC Secretary General Chalton Hwende said :
Some people have no shame this attempt to rig Mugabe’s vote is ludicrous.
Mugabe told the whole world that he was going to Vote for @nelsonchamisa.
Gvt must allow RG’s family to mourn and bury him in peace.”
“Now they start again! What we will here next time is that RGM never said anything about the HEROES ACRE burial – I guess RGM’s vote was changed, they followed it in the ballot box – they rigged his vote,”said Nkululeko Sibanda, the MDC Presidential spokesperson.
Farai Dziva|The main opposition party in Zimbabwe, MDC has accused Zanu PF of attempting to “rig Robert Mugabe’s vote in last year’s presidential plebiscite.
The opposition party has also accused Emmerson Mnangagwa of “seizing” Mugabe’s funeral programme.
The Director-General in the President’s Office, Isaac Moyo, claimed Mugabe could not sleep the night he held a press conference endorsing Chamisa.
“Of course, here and there, there were also moments we had our tensions.
I remember when I first went to see him after his Press conference, where he announced he was going to vote for Chamisa.
We really had an exchange that day, but what then emerged was that he said despite having threatened to vote for Chamisa, he actually did not vote for Chamisa and I was told on how on the eve of the elections, he had agonised, he could not sleep.
According to the former First Lady, he had woken up around 2 am somewhere and he said he could not sleep and the idea that he would go and vote for Chamisa was rebuffed, he could not do that.
And the former First Lady said she then encouraged him to follow his real wishes and to vote for comrades he has always been with and not to worry about the small matters between them, and so the former First Lady, with the concurrence of Cde Mugabe himself, said he had not voted for MDC, but he had voted correctly, I found that funny and I enjoyed the story,” claimed Moyo.
Responding to Moyo’s remarks MDC Secretary General Chalton Hwende said :
Some people have no shame this attempt to rig Mugabe’s vote is ludicrous.
Mugabe told the whole world that he was going to Vote for @nelsonchamisa.
Gvt must allow RG’s family to mourn and bury him in peace.”
“Now they start again! What we will here next time is that RGM never said anything about the HEROES ACRE burial – I guess RGM’s vote was changed, they followed it in the ballot box – they rigged his vote,”said Nkululeko Sibanda, the MDC Presidential spokesperson.
Below is the video of the Defence Minister Oppah Muchinguri which has angered Robert Mugabe’s family, as preparations for the late president’s burial drew nigh. Muchinguri shifted her colours before and after the November 2017 coup labeling him a traitor. The Mugabe family says it does not want to see Muchinguri anywhere near Zvimba for this reason.
Dear Editor-I was very relaxed but am being irritated by the praises being directed to our former dictator, RGM.
Wafa vanaka they say so but I have never believed in this phrase, people tend to forget the Robert Mugabe our enermy the one who impoverished the nation through his curruption and that of his lieutenants.
Appointments of well known corrupt ministers into his gvt, the killing of our brothers in matebelnd, the murders and tortures of 2008, and 2002, Murambatsvina of 2005,
Mugabe is bad even dead WHY he is a virus that can spread even if the carrier is dead, he infected Mnangagwa and other in Zanu who upto this date believ democracy does not exist. Some wil say Mnangagwa is worse but I always beg to differ I believe ED is an Updated version of RGM he was born, groomed, tutored by him. Can we say the devils son is worse than the devil himself Mugabe was the father of all the messes we find Zimbabwe in.
Yes we may say he liberated Zim which some in Zanu even disagree, but did he liberated us to kill us, to stave us to make us poor. In my lifetime i will never forgive Mugabe dead or alive. MaRIP itai mega coz i dont think peace is guarantered to him. God should decide his fate.
On the fifth of September President Robert Gabriel Mugabe breathed his last breath. His journey ended at ninety five. This was a blessing from God. Mugabe remained a household name in the world. He is a man who rose up and down in his political life. Cde Robert Mugabe tendered his resignation as the president of Zimbabwe on the 21 st November 2017 then became the dark month to Mugabe. Who had ever known that he was to die three years later in the month of his resignation. This came about after a bloodless army intervention. The man who became a hero and fought many strong men was brought down by a woman.
The President travelled From a war hero to resignation; the man whose name became synonymous with Zimbabwe, resigned as president after 37 years in power. He made his mistakes but he was more Zimbabwean than fools claiming to be Zimbabweans now He will always remain a hero who brought independence and an end to white-minority rule. Even those who forced him out blamed his wife and “criminals” around him. It is sad that the president was surrounded by vultures who only wanted to fatten their pockets snd never had the country at large. These vultures were powered by the first lady who became so blinded by power and interfered in the day to day running of the state affairs which were not hers. Other vultures were powered by ammunitions and blamed the first lady. She failed to learn from Mao’s wife from China. or Nicholai Ceausescu’s wife from Romania.
But to her critics, this highly uneducated, novice became the woman who destroyed an entire country in order to gain power. She praised corruption and snatched cases from courts. She acquitted her friends at a rally and praised nepotism in a very embarrassing way. She claimed that she was now the president and surrounded herself with those who lied to her and in turn she gave pressure to her then 93 year old husband who succumbed to pressure and blundered along the way. The hero was reduced to a villain by a malicious woman. The hero was to be rested by his blood friends it was said to save him and to save the nation.
Indeed he is resting and thank God he counted his years while others are counting their remaining days In the end, it was the security forces, who made him free from his imposing manipulative wife and comrades who all claimed to be working to protect the president. The disrespect shown by the first lady to all Zimbabweans when she called them cowards made the people unite against the husband.
The people and the army were incensed when the president was forced by his wife to sack his long-time ally, Vice-President Emmerson Mnangagwa, paving the way for his much younger wife Grace to dictate who will succeed him, fearing it meant the end for them as the powers behind the throne. The reality is the president never wanted his wife to succeed him. He had insisted that people should chose their successor. His wife had asked him to appoint a successor but he refused. With dirty scheming from Jonathan Moyo and Kasukuwere people were made to believe that the demanding wife has set her eyes on the throne.
Before the 2008 elections, Cde Mugabe said: “If you lose an election and are rejected by the people, it is time to leave politics.”
But after a near miss the president showed his courage and perseverance. He had a job to accomplish and he had to fight on till the job was done. He has the country at heart and was prepared to die for it. And just to be sure, he sought peoples support This made him a man of the people. In order to save the lives of his people the president gave land to the people. This gained him enemies and his name was soiled. This did not stop him from working for his country and his people.
In 2013, Mugabe showed the people that Mr Tsvangirai had lost a lot of credibility during his years working with Mr Mugabe and he lost dismally and this kept ZANU PF in power till the day he was removed by mistake. Yes because the operation was to remove criminals around him but he got the backlash and was removed too. The key to understanding Mr Mugabe is the 1970s guerrilla war where he made his name. President Mugabe was. Born in 1924 21 February. Later trained as a teacher 1964: Imprisoned by Rhodesian government.
Did his law while in prison and finished a number of degrees. He stayed resolute and principled in his purpose In 1980 The president led ZANU to winning ways and winning became synonymous with ZANU PF.
The cracking point came in 1996 when he Marries Grace Marufu. That was the unseen starting of the problems. Marrying young girls is a Recipe of danger. The coming into politics of Grace and her refusal to take advice dragged the president into a deep end.
Mugabes agility was compromised by his age and his enemies and his wife were quick to notice it. She elbowed those around Mugabe and replaced them with the young men she protected from their crimes. Ignored national justice and created an inhuman way of justice. In all this Mugabe kept silent maybe out of age maybe out of love. All what the first lady did did not taint Mugabe”s legacy.
Zimbabwe under Mugabe the Liberation icon Even after 37 years in power, Mugabe still maintained the same worldview – the patriotic socialist forces of his Zanu-PF party were still fighting the twin evils of capitalism and colonialism. He gave confidence to Zimbabweans at home and abroad. Zimbabwe’s economic problems were caused by a plot by Western countries, led by the UK, to oust him because of his seizure of farms.
The West wanted to starve the people to rebellion and they indeed succeeded. We all saw this coming. The agent of the West Jonathan Moyo had promised to destroy ZANU PF from within and he indeed succeeded. Mugabe despite all the warning signs did not see this coming. Surely his last days where captured by the wife. Zimbabwe was under a bedroom coup and no one dared to say it. He always concentrated on the question of how to share out the national cake, but the wife stiffled him with people who wanted the cake to themselves rather than how to make it grow.
Mr Mugabe once famously said that a country could never go bankrupt but with the first lady who was advised by thieves the president presided over a shrinking economy. Whenever economics gets in the way of politics, politics wins every time and indeed people suffered.
In 2000, ZANU PF faced with a strong opposition for the first time, he used his intelligence to outwit the opposition and he kept the party in the winning track. This he did with the help of ED and all cadres who loved their country.
His enemies applied sanctions and all sorts of smear campaign to remove him but they failed. The sanctions scared off donors but in purely political terms, Mr Mugabe outsmarted his enemies – he remained in power for another 17 years. And the tactics he and his supporters used were straight from the guerrilla war.
in a 2000 referendum, Which we lost the war veterans came up with ideas of winning back the votes. This they did peacefully and Zimbabwe remained in good hands. The war veterans were fighting for the rights of black Zimbabweans Eight years later, a similar pattern was followed after Mr Mugabe lost the first round of a presidential election to his long-time rival Morgan Tsvangirai. When needed, all the levers of state – the security forces, were used in the service of the ruling party for the love of the country Zimbabwe still has one of the highest literacy rates in Africa, at 89% of the population.
Cde Mugabe has not been afraid to stand for his people. The young beneficiaries were able to analyse Zimbabwe’s problems for themselves and most blamed sanctions and corruption and mismanagement for the lack of jobs and rising prices. We still wonder why the president listened to his wife above his comrades. Why did he allow the bitter Jonathan Moyo to run the country to near chaos. Mugabe fought on behalf of the rural poor but much of the land he gave them ended up in the hands of few.
The president was a staunch Catholic, and worshiped at Harare’s Catholic Cathedral were graced when he turned up for Sunday Mass. It is the painful truth that the first lady ultimately proved his downfall. Although Mr Mugabe outlived many predictions of his demise, the increasing strain of recent years took its toll and his once-impeccable presentation has begun to look rather worn at times.
If nothing else, Mr Mugabe has always been an extremely humble man. He often said he would only step down when his “revolution” was complete. He was referring to the redistribution of land but he also wanted people to pick his successor, who would of course have had to come from the ranks of Zanu-PF.
I count myself very lucky to have spoken to the president on several occassions. He remains my hero and your hero too.
I have no doubt that his succession has been taken by a worthy man. I had the opportunity to talk to cde Munangagwa several times. I have no doubt he is a good leader. I can assure you that he will not undo what the icon has done. Hopefully.
While Zimbabwe has lost in Mugabe we have surely gained in his legacy.
I shed a tear for my hero Mugabe and indeed offer a prayer for his family. May they be given strength to move on.
May the soul of Cde RG Mugabe rest in peace. (Cde) Mugabe you remain my hero.
Mary Robinson, Chair of The Elders and former President of Ireland, and Graça Machel, Deputy Chair of The Elders and former Mozambican freedom fighter, visited Harare from 6-7 September. They met President Emmerson Mnangagwa for talks at State House, following on from their previous meeting in July 2018 with the late Kofi Annan, then Chair of The Elders.
They also met Nelson Chamisa, leader of the opposition MDC-Alliance party, and representatives of civil society, women’s groups, church leaders and representatives of the international community. They were particularly impressed with their conversations with women from across Zimbabwe convened in a dialogue platform by the Zimbabwe Council of Churches. This inclusive model offers a path for the whole country.
The Elders expressed their condolences on the passing of former President Robert Mugabe, whose death aged 95 was announced on 6 September. They urged all Zimbabweans to reclaim the spirit of optimism and dynamism that greeted Independence in 1980. This can only be done if the rule of law is upheld, human rights are respected, and the country’s abundant natural resources are distributed with accountability, transparency and equity.
Mary Robinson said:
“Last year I visited Zimbabwe on the cusp of landmark elections to find people determinedly optimistic about the future. Today that optimism has gone amid a worsening economic crisis, entrenched political polarisation and a culture of fear, paranoia and state violence. Yet I have been heartened by hearing from courageous women and church leaders from across society who are meeting to nurture dialogue and reimagine their country’s future. They offer an example that all Zimbabweans should follow.”
The Elders were alarmed to hear of the grave economic hardships endured across the country, which stand in stark contrast to the progress made in health and education in the early years of the country’s independence. They recognised the difficult economic reforms to bring currency stability and improve anti-corruption measures. They called on the government and international partners to act urgently to boost social protection measures and resilience-building programmes to empower local communities and stimulate growth.
They also condemned the recent spate of abductions and cases of torture and sexual assault against peaceful demonstrators and civil society activists by police, security forces and unknown assailants. Such acts have no place in a democratic society, and there should be no impunity for those who commit these crimes.
Graça Machel said:
“Zimbabwe was once a beacon across Southern Africa in the struggle against colonial and racist oppression. It remains blessed with natural wealth and entrepreneurial, resilient citizens who deserve to live in dignity and prosperity. I am convinced that Zimbabwe can chart a path to a peaceful and democratic future, but only if a broad, inclusive national dialogue is given the space to flourish and resonate among all citizens.”
The Elders urged President Mnangagwa, Advocate Chamisa and all political leaders to find a way out of the current impasse and act constructively in the interests of the whole nation. Inflammatory language that perpetuates and exacerbates cycles of confrontation must be disavowed. All political and security forces must commit to abide by the Constitution of Zimbabwe, the rule of law, freedom of speech and the protection of human rights.
They also called on Zimbabwe’s neighbours in the Southern African Development Community (SADC) and the wider international community to hold its leaders to account in terms of their responsibility to their people. Economic and political reforms must progress in tandem to enable Zimbabwe’s reintegration into global markets and the community of nations.
Below are comments by the US Secretary Of State Mike Pompeo on Zimbabwe following the death of former president Robert Mugabe:
During nearly four decades in power, Robert Mugabe devastated a country with enormous potential. He slaughtered political opponents in the 1980s, used security forces to abuse the opposition and civil society, enriched his family and inner circle through massive corruption and catastrophically mismanaged the economy, turning the region’s breadbasket into one where much of the population requires international food assistance.
Zimbabweans have long deserved better and their leadership has an opportunity to set the country on a much different path. We will continue to stand with the Zimbabwean people in their efforts to forge a better, more prosperous future.
By A Correspondent| Former Warriors star, Madinda Ndlovu is said to have been hospitalised at the GPH hospital in Botswana after he collapsed during training.
The sad development was confirmed by an unnamed family source who said that details were still sketchy. The source told ZBC News that family members were on their way to the hospital.
Madinda who is a brother to King Peter, former Warriors captain, is currently Head Coach of Gaborone United after parting ways with his boyhood side Highlanders weeks back.-StateMedia
By A Correspondent| The body of Zimbabwe’s founding father and national hero, Robert Mugabe, who died last Friday, is expected in the country on Wednesday.
Deputy Chief Secretary – Presidential Communications, Mr George Charamba, confirmed the development, pouring cold water on claims of differences between government and the family on where the former President would be buried.
“It is the time line that we are working with, but subject to confirmation with the leadership. The major decisions will be taken this Sunday (today) in the context of the proposed programme,” said Mr Charamba, adding that there is no animosity whatsoever between the two parties.
Mugabe family spokesperson Mr Leo Mugabe told the media on Saturday that family members will be part of a team that includes government officials that will leave the country either today or Monday to help repatriate the body of the late national hero.
Emerging from a meeting with traditional leaders from the Gushungo clan in Zvimba this Saturday, Leo said chiefs are fully involved in the preparations for Cde Mugabe’s burial, since he was a chief in the Gushungo clan.
“Overall, the people who will make decisions will be the Zvimba chiefs who are gathered now (Saturday),” he said.
He quashed media reports that the former President had refused to be buried at the National Heroes Acre.
“I saw the WhatsApp message to that effect, but we don’t know where the information originated from. I know there are people who create these stories so that they make comments for themselves, but that is not the official position of the family,” former President Mugabe’s nephew said.
President Emmerson Mnangagwa, the Mugabe and Marufu family members and chiefs from Zvimba are expected to receive the body at the Robert Mugabe International Airport before it is taken to Mugabe’s rural home in Zvimba.
A proper funeral programme is yet to be announced, but there are indications that the former President’s body would be placed in the giant National Sports Stadium, where mourners from all the country’s provinces would have an opportunity to pay their last respects.-StateMedia
Robert Mugabe was a controversial character in global politics, before his ousting as Zimbabwe’s president in 2017 after nearly four decades of rule.
It was a leadership marred by violence, persecution and corruption – and the former president’s outspoken tendencies caused controversy, too.
Following his death, we have curated some of the most revealing quotes Mr Mugabe made during his lifetime.
:: He responded boldly to premature rumours of his death (2012)
“I have died many times. That’s where I have beaten Christ. Christ died once and resurrected once. I have died and resurrected and I don’t know how many times I will die and resurrect.”
:: And was enthusiastic about Hitler (2013)
“I am still the Hitler of the time. This Hitler has only one objective, justice for his own people, sovereignty for his people, recognition of the independence of his people. If that is Hitler, then let me be a Hitler tenfold.”
:: But he seemed less keen on Nelson Mandela (2013)
“Mandela has gone a bit too far in doing good to the non-black communities, really in some cases at the expense of (blacks)… That’s being too saintly, too good.”
:: And much less on LGBT people (2010)
“Worse than pigs and dogs… Those who do it, we will say, they are wayward. It is just madness, insanity.”
:: On his affair with Grace, who he married in 1996 following the death of his wife, he was unapologetic (1998)
“I wanted children and this is how I thought I could get them. I knew what I was doing and my wife knew.”
:: Decades ago, on Zimbabwean independence, Mugabe had been conciliatory (1980)
“It could never be a correct justification that because the whites oppressed us yesterday when they had power, the blacks must oppress them today.”
:: Later on seizing farms, he adopted a different tone (2000)
“You are now our enemies because you really have behaved as enemies of Zimbabwe. We are full of anger. Our entire community is angry and that is why we now have the war veterans seizing land.”
Image:The Queen and Prince Philip with Robert Mugabe in Buckingham PalaceImage:Mr Mugabe shakes hands with then prime minister Margaret Thatcher in 1980
:: On Britain, Zimbabwe’s former colonial ruler (2001)
“The British were brought up as a violent people, liars, scoundrels and crooks… I am told that [former British prime minister Tony] Blair was a troublesome little boy at school.”
:: And colonialism in general (2015)
“African resources belong to Africa. Others may come to assist as our friends and allies, but no longer as colonisers or oppressors, no longer as racists.”
“My decision to resign is voluntary on my part,” the letter said.
“It arises from my concern for the welfare of the people of Zimbabwe and my desire to ensure a smooth, peaceful and non-violent transfer of power that underpins national security, peace and stability.”
Former Warriors star, Madinda Ndlovu is said to have been hospitalised at the GPH hospital in Botswana after he collapsed during training.
The sad development was confirmed by an unnamed family source who said that details were still sketchy. The source told ZBC News that family members were on their way to the hospital.
Madinda who is a brother to King Peter, former Warriors captain, is currently Head Coach of Gaborone United after parting ways with his boyhood side Highlanders weeks back.
By A Correspondent| The Minister of Primary and Secondary Education, Paul Mavima, said schools will open or the third term on Tuesday as scheduled.
This follows social media reports that schools will now be opened for the third term on 17 September to allow the nation to grieve the passing away of former president Robert Mugabe.
Mavima refuted those claims and insisted that the schools’ calendar has not changed.
He said:
The death of the former President has not affected the opening of school. The schools are still opening Tuesday this week as planned so social media posts should be ignored.
In a tweet on Saturday, Ministry of Information, Publicity and Broadcasting also said schools will open on 10 September 2019.
The tweet read:
Schools are due to open on Tuesday 10 September 2019. There has been no change to that plan. Please ignore any messages to the contrary. Borders are expected to travel to their respective schools on Monday 9 September 2019.
By Dorrothy Moyo| “If a puppet was person Simon khaya Moyo read a letter firing Mnangagwa,” wrote socialite Wellence Mujuru on Sunday morning.
He continued saying, “a week later he read another letter firing Mugabe. On Mugabe’s death he is reading a letter saying Mugabe was a Great Statesman.”
Mujuru was commenting on developments following the death of the 95 year old former President Robert Mugabe.
Mugabe died in hospital in Singapore and is due to be flown home this coming week.
By Terence Rusirevi| President Emmerson Mnangagwa and Deputy Information minister Energy Mutodi and all the knuckle draggers in Zanu Pf should spare us the moral grandstanding when it comes to the xenophobia in South Africa.
I saw a video clip of the hip thrusting rhumba crooner turned Zanu goebbelsian merchant making threats to South Africa in light of the violence against Zimbabweans there.
All of a sudden Zanu knuckle draggers like him are pro Zimbabwean when our people are being attacked or killed in a foreign land, but when Zanu brutalizes or kills them in Zimbabwe, they dress it up as law and order.
Regarding the violence against foreigners in South Africa, I hate to sound like an unwelcome jeremiad on this, but the concept of ‘fellow African’ in 2019 smacks of misplaced optimism. Bear with me, here. Are there currently any massive cross country African solidarity movements which are led by ordinary working class people? I don’t know any to be honest.
The only cross country African clubs which enjoy a degree of solidarity are the elites in the SADC and AU and organisations like that. By elites I mean the thieves and crooks who lead African countries.
Ordinary working class Africans shouldn’t assume that just because the other people are also black like us, then we have solidarity them, it’s not as simple as that. African solidarity, as far as I remember, has been one, established against a common enemy – an daily an identifiable and ubiquitous enemy. During the cold war there was African solidarity against colonialism.
Liberation movements led by ordinary Africans enjoyed solidarity with other Africans. However, after liberation from colonialism, the leaders of those movements became the elite and part of the problem. I say part of the problem because, actually, since the end of colonialism and apartheid, there hasn’t been an African cross country movement led by ordinary working class people against a common enemy because the enemy is now a two headed monster.
One of the heads, as I have already indicated refers to the brazenly corrupt African governments while the other head is neoliberalism. Neoliberalism is more prevalent in South Africa for obvious reasons – South Africa is not owned or run like the other countries in the region, and the country’s history with violence is a lot different from the others.
In South Africa, neoliberalism has cause a rapid deterioration in the living standards of working class black natives who have become an underclass reeking of ignorance and brutishness towards foreigners, a stance, by the way,, inculcated into them by right wing media and dog whistle politics in the country.
To cut the long story short, labour movements are a tried and tested way of establishing solidarity among ordinary people regardless of race. Right now there aren’t any significant ones in Africa.
The reasons for the violence against ethnic foreigners in SA is a result of convoluted combination of inherent racial sadomasochism among the elites in the country who enjoy watching the humiliation of black people, diversionary tactics of ‘blaming the foreigners but not us’ by those responsible for the deterioration of living standards of black natives and a lack of solidarity within working class Africans in the country and within the region.
Nonetheless, the violence in the country should be condemned and the perpetrators arrested as soon as possible. The South African government has the power to stop these attacks immediately in the short term, and the elites in the country have the power to stop spreading lies about foreigners and in the long term, the resources to improve living standards for black natives. Why are they not doing that? I’ve already indicated why.
But from a Zimbabwean perspective, people like Mnangagwa and Mutodi are the reason why Zimbabweans have had to leave the country and for them to come out as if they give a damn about the welfare of Zimbabweans is shameless opportunism. It’s a crazy logic, similar to the one used by murderers in prison when they attack and ostracize paedophiles.
Barcelona stroll past Real Madrid female team (CD Tacon) on Saturday afternoon with a humiliating scoreline of 9-1 in what was billed as women’s football’s first clasico at the Estadi Johan Cruyff.
There were 5,413 in attendance to watch the mauling, as the Blaugranas showed just how far ahead they are of Real Madrid’s venture into the world of women’s football, though their name is yet to be put onto the club.
It barely took eight minutes for the deadlock to be broken. Alexia Putellas, acting as captain, pounced on an error to open the scoring. Tacon then enjoyed 20 minutes’ peace before Aitana Bonmati added a second, with Lucia Suarez Garcia and Mariona Caldentey making it four before half time.
Jessica Martinez did reduce the deficit by scoring first after the break, but normal service resumed just six minutes later when Bonmati got her second on the hour mark. Caroline Graham Hansen made it six inside the final 20 minutes and Jennifer Hermoso then scored twice in three minutes before completing her hat-trick in stoppage time.
Former Ghanaian President, John Agyekum Kufuor has expressed sorrow about the passing of celebrated African leader, Robert Mugabe.
Eulogising Mugabe in a statement, Kufuor said the former Zimbabwean president, “was leader…with a high level of intellect.”
“He led his nation through the struggles of liberation from colonialism and was very successful as a freedom fighter,” he wrote.
According to the Second President of the Fourth Republic of Ghana, Mugabe’s “earlier life of vicissitudes in long political detention, exile, racism, resistance to land grab in his nation and general colonial imposition, hardened him into an uncompromising political leader.”
He added: “nevertheless, he belongs with the liberation leaders of the African continent and the heroes who wrestled Africa from the clutches of colonialism and apartheid.”
Mugabe died on September 6, he had been receiving treatment in a hospital in Singapore since April.
When Robert Mugabe was elected prime minister of Zimbabwe in 1980, his supporters took to the streets to celebrate. When he was deposed in a coup in November 2017, Zimbabweans from across the political divide marched in solidarity with the army that overthrew him.
Now, in death, Mugabe – a hero turned dictator – has once again split public opinion.
Mugabe, who died on Friday in a hospital in Singapore at the age of 95, died a bitter man. He had not come to terms with the political ascension of his once-trusted lieutenant Emmerson Mnangagwa, who succeeded him as president.
A fortnight ago, close family sources told a weekly independent newspaper that the former president’s dying wish was to be buried in the Zvimba district, his ancestral home, instead of the National Heroes’ Acre where, as president, he buried his trusted comrades.
Those he loathed – including his maternal uncle and childhood friend James Chikerema – were not granted a similar status despite the contributions they had made to the struggle for liberation.
“He was the most selfish man I came to know. A tough disciplinarian too – he crushed everyone who crossed his path at his prime,” said a Zanu-PF member.
Between 1983 and 1987, Mugabe launched the so-called “Gukurahundi”, a violent campaign targeting civilians and alleged dissidents who supported the Zimbabwe African People’s Union (Zapu) and its leader, Joshua Nkomo. The Korean-trained 5th Brigade, an army unit with political links that fell outside army command, killed an estimated 20,000 people in Matabeleland and the Midlands provinces.
The campaign forced Nkomo to the negotiation table to sign a unity accord in December 1987 bringing together Zapu and the Zimbabwe African National Union to form Zanu-PF. Mugabe was granted his wish for a one-party state for at least three decades.
For ordinary Zimbabweans, Mugabe had three faces – the good, the bad and the considerate.
“Before he died, some of us wished he was still president because things are now harder than they were when he was in power,” said Mavis Nyoni, a teacher, on Friday. “The economy was bad under him but somehow he made sure we had ‘keep going’ strategies – but under the new rulers it’s blank.”
For Thabani Zhou, a foreign exchange dealer, the mess in which Zimbabwe now finds itself can be traced back to Mugabe.
“Before 1995, the country was spoilt for choice. There were many able people who could have taken over from him. Already then, he looked tired and should have retired but his long stay created this mess. We have a coup to our name; before that, hyperinflation and bad service delivery. All those things started with him. Talk of the culture of political violence we see today, it’s all from Mugabe’s playbook,” he said.
Jabulani Tsheza had seen Mugabe “die” too many times on social media in previous hoax reports. He did not believe the news on Friday until he saw it confirmed on television. A retired teacher and former student of Mugabe’s at Empandeni Mission in Matabeleland South in the 1950s, Tsheza felt Zimbabwe had lost an icon.
“People knew us out there because of him. One good trait under him was a solid education system. Zimbabweans are some of the most educated Africans. Unfortunately, I don’t see any leader that can rival him emerging from the local political scene in the next decade or so,” he said.
Taruvinga Zinyengere, a carpenter, felt Mugabe had suffered enough.
“He spent four months in a hospital. Expecting him to improve was like wishing for a miracle because at his age, like Nelson Mandela who died at the same age, there was nothing much left to live for. However, he leaves a relatively young family, having only lived to see just one grandchild,” he said.
Mugabe’s youngest son, Chatunga, shared his grief on social media, saying on his private Instagram account @bellzgabe: “I just wanna die.”
Most residents in Zimbabwe’s major cities, Harare, Bulawayo, Gweru and Mutare, went about their lives as usual on Friday. Had Mugabe died in power, it may have sparked a more emotional reaction.
“We came to terms with his departure. He had been living his life as a retired person. We respect his family’s privacy, although at times I personally feel his rule robbed us of a bright future. There’s nothing we can do about it,” said a police officer at a roadblock.
Mugabe’s death overshadowed that of Brig-Gen Trust Mugoba, who died in Harare on Friday. The former president had shipped Mugoba to the African Union in 2017 in a failed bid to neutralise the coup that ended his presidency.
Zimbabwe’s first post-independence leader, Robert Mugabe, died at the age of 95 on September 6 2019 while in hospital in Singapore
Saturday’s By-elections produce no major surprises.
Zanu PF has retained the Mangwe National Assembly and Masvingo North Ward 1 council seats, but lost Harare’s Glenview South National Assembly seat to the opposition MDC.
In Mangwe, the ruling party’s candidate Hlalani Mguni polled 4553 votes while Vincent Sihlabo of MDC got 2210 votes in Saturday’s by-election.
According to the ZEC, voter turnout was 39,9 percent of the registered voters in the constituency.
In Glenview South, MDC’s Vincent Tsvangirayi polled 3 474 votes, while Zanu PF’s Offard Muchuwe received 1 534 votes.
A total of 5 250 votes were cast as compared to 17 446 in the 2018 election.
The Mangwe and Glen View South National Assembly seats fell vacant following the death of Obedingwa Mguni and Vimbayi Tsvangirai Java respectively.
In Masvingo North’s ward 1 council by-election also held on Saturday, Zanu PF candidate, Kudakwashe Murambiwa beat MDC’s Escort Chawatama.
Murambiwa received 1166 as compared to his rival’s 334.
The seat fell vacant after the death of Councillor Ephraim Chinamasa in July.
Opinion By Zifiso Masiye|With every five years I stalled, post-uni, he stole a big piece of my future. Nothing is quite as harrowing as to lose something you cherish.
All of us have suffered that deep sinking feeling — to be robbed of your valued treasure. So often, it comes with all that consuming shame, vulnerability and indignity akin to being raped and stripped of a great piece of your very humanity.
Listening to the cursing and mourning pontifications of so many “masters of ceremony” that spring up naturally at such a “funeral wake” as Robert Mugabe’s, I felt the learning of a couple of invaluable life lessons:
Mugabe had only three real priorities in all of 95 years. His number one priority was himself, his second himself and his ultimate priority was himself!
I learnt that therein, the man missed the point and lost the plot, rather completely. What is famous is the cause of mankind, human dignity and social justice. While you, the person may change, these enduring values and principles don’t.
As such, it is folly that you [Mugabe] set out on that fame-making journey and claim the iconic mantle of fame, championing the cause of freedom, human dignity and social justice, only to turn, and hope to complete that journey, yet retain the mantle — in the opposite direction, as a perpetrator of the same injustice and angel of the same human indignity you first set out to fight.
Neither the ability to recite, with eloquence a couple of Bible verses, nor the accidental stumble on a fleeting act of kindness, should ever fool us to believe that perchance, the devil could be an angel!
What greater hypocrisy could outweigh the ludicrous suggestion that an unrepentant dictator, superintending the brutal murder of tens of thousands of those of the people he purports to have fought to free? Super-refining the very state apparatus that tortured and tormented him in the trenches, only to rebrand it, personalise it and set it against fellow black men, those of his comrades that ever dared challenge his view and his authority.
Decimating a thriving economy and rendering ‘exiled migrants’, of millions he fought to free — deliberately poisoning and polarising the society whose unity he claimed to cherish. Investing consistently in anger, deceit and foul means and toxic ethnic and racial division, in the dysfunctional politics of patronage, nepotism and exclusion and bragging to the grave, of a personal distinction for “degrees of violence”.
Such a leader, boasting potentially the worst human rights record in Africa, who persistently stole the voice of the citizens, the very citizens whom he fought to enfranchise and showed the middle finger to the very democracy he claimed to have authored.
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A so-called pan-Africanist par excellence, who found no wrong in siphoning his country’s resources and investing them in foreign lands, a patriot credited with distinguished social policies who never lay for a day, on a single local hospital-bed and departed the world in the ignominy of foreign health care in a foreign hospital.
Such a one, who brazenly became that which he so tenaciously fought against, such a one who rescues democracy from the intensive care unit of white minority greed to the intensive care unit of the albatross that’s become known as Mugabeism, what kind iconic hero is he?
It is criminal hypocrisy, at least to rational people, to pretend that our national magnanimity can, somehow see beyond these monumental leadership deficits and absolutely abominable, but defining governance taboos that are the enduring core of Mugabe, in some haste to salvage what little vestiges can be squeezed from the earlier laps of his sorry journey. It is a travesty. But in this arena, travesties have become evening candy!
My lounge is a theatre of democracy where just about every political party is represented. My granddaughter, a great fan of ED of Kutonga Kwaro fame just came with raving reviews from the national Heroes Acre the other week.
Having watched through every episode of the spellbinding November 17, three-day movie, and having as clear an understanding of what transpired and what Mugabe means as an eight-year-old could, she was rather taken aback yesterday when she tried to piece together November 17 and the hero status. Didn’t I sweat attempting to disentangle the bemusing spaghetti politics of Zanu PF to a child!
My barber explains that Mugabe died in two instalments that had the effect of robbing irate citizens their big bang moment of frenzied collective built-up anger and vengeance that they had reserved for years for the date he would drop dead in office.
Where, individually and collectively, they had all planned a simultaneous celebration of his political demise and death, the choreographed separation of his shame by some two years has presented them a damp squib and robbed citizens of the spontaneity of their 30-year anger and vengeance — “What a boring death, this wasn’t the plan bro!”
He further reckons, “Now Mugabe has died with our apology in his throat! Yet in truth, no apology could have won him any favour with the Matabele, the same way no amount of transgression and misgovernance could ever deny him iconic status among his Zezuru and Shona ilk. In the absence of real heroes, the torch carried by a villain still shines as bright.”
I learnt that Mugabe is to his people what Jesus Christ is to Christians — the face, epitome and ultimate symbol of who they are and what they represent. Asking to bury his name and image with indignity like scum of the earth, however justified, would re-install while supremacist arrogance and justify the moribund hypocrisy of the West he had long called out.
I could feel a floating invitation to temporary blindness to genocide and the axis of evil peddled by trusted friends and some of the fiercest critics of Mugabeism.
These lessons indeed I learnt, wafa-wanaka (no blemish in death), but to be real value, the African lessons at the graveside must be more about the future, not the dead. Our greatest lesson from past blunders must be how never to repeat them.
The rear-view mirror of our collective horror about Mugabe is only useful to the extent it helps us drive better going forward.
Only one person stands to gain from the imminent outpouring of disgust and pity that will surely accompany Mugabe’s funeral, ED.
We are likely to see a new season of angry testimonies, fresh government excuses, and systematic Bob-bashing that shifts focus from glaring governance deficits of our time. The mess of the past must not be our new agenda.
Mugabe’s death should present Zimbabweans with their “never again”. Never again . . . should we see the reign of violence and flagrant violation of human rights in our country. Never again should we watch a leader loot our national resources for his personal enrichment.
Never again should citizens watch as bystanders and abdicate their personal agency in rescuing their democracy and managing their economy. Never again should citizens allow institutions of the state to pander to the whims of a leader or political party.
ABOUT 13 Zimbabwean suspected armed robbers have broken out of a South African jail where they were awaiting trial, South African Police Services (Saps) said yesterday.
The group is believed to have escaped around 9:30pmon Friday during what police said was a routine cell visit.
They had been arrested for business robberies and contravention of the Illegal Immigration Act, and were identified as follows:
Jeffrey Sekunda (40), Alex Chinhengo (26), Usher Hamandishe (27), Edmore Madzudzu (34), Concelia Musengeni (35), Jeffrey Duvenegwa (37), Tinashe Moyo (24), Elvis Chari (26), Ida Jana
(20), Cosia Mabhena (19), Ludwick Dube (19), Luckson Manyangadze (31) and Misheck Brian (19).
The 13 were also facing charges under the immigration laws for allegedly having entered South Africa illegally.
File Picture of Supporters of Zimbabwe African National Union – Patriotic Front (ZANU–PF)
Reports just received indicate that ZANU PF has retained the Mangwe Constituency after narrowly edging the opposition MDC in the by election held on Saturday.
Results yet to be confirmed are that ZANU PF polled 4 540 votes against the MDC’s 3 115 votes.
Full results provided indicate the following outcome:
Robert Mugabe’s body is expected home on Wednesday afternoon.
Deputy Chief Secretary to the President and Cabinet, who is also the Presidential spokesperson, George Charamba, said the former President was expected to be buried on Sunday at the National Heroes Acre.
He said contrary to reports in some sections of the media, there was never any differences of opinion between Government and family on where the former President would be buried.
“It is the time line that we are working with, but subject to confirmation with the leadership. The major decisions will be taken tomorrow in the context of the proposed programme,” said Charamba.
The body of the founding President of Zimbabwe is expected to be received at the Robert Gabriel Mugabe International Airport by President Emmerson Mnangagwa, the Mugabe and Marufu family members and chiefs from Zvimba.
Upon its arrival, the body is expected to be taken to Mugabe’s rural home in Zvimba.
While a proper funeral programme is yet to be announced, provisional plans are that the former President’s body would be placed in the giant National Sports Stadium, where mourners from all the country’s provinces would have the opportunity to pay their last respects.
Government’s Chief of Protocol, Mr Munyaradzi Kajese, is today expected to convene a meeting of Government officials that will work out a comprehensive draft programme for the funeral.
A team of Government officials, the Mugabe and Marufu family members and Zanu-PF party representatives is to travel to Singapore today or tomorrow to assist the wife of the former President, Mrs Grace Mugabe, in repatriating the body.
Emerging from a meeting with traditional leaders from the Gushungo clan in Zvimba yesterday, family spokesperson Mr Leo Mugabe told the media that it was befitting to include chiefs in preparations for Mugabe’s burial, since he was a chief in the Gushungo clan.
“Overall, the people who will make decisions will be the Zvimba chiefs who are gathered now (yesterday).”
He denied media reports that the former President had refused to be interred at the National Heroes Acre.
“I saw the WhatsApp message to that effect, but we don’t know where the information originated from. I know there are people who create these stories so that they make comments for themselves, but that is not the official position of the family,” said Mr Mugabe, who is a nephew to the former President.
Standard|Former president Robert Mugabe’s family says his health deteriorated after he was overthrown in a military coup in 2017 and he never forgave those behind his outster.
Mugabe, who died aged 95 at a Singapore hospital on Friday, was forced to resign after he was put under house arrest by the military, which also took over government institutions.
President Emmerson Mnangagwa last month said his predecessor had been detained at a Singapore medically facility since April.
The former ruler’s nephew who is the family spokesperson told The Standard in Zvimba, Mugabe’s rural home, yesterday that his uncle died a bitter man.
“He died a very bitter man,” he said. “Imagine the people that are guarding you that you trusted the most turn against you.
“They have dented his legacy; it was not an easy thing.”
The former Zanu PF MP said Mugabe never recovered from the effects of the coup and was very bitter until his last days.
“We tried to cheer him up after the November coup, but he was very angry and did not change,” he added.
“He wanted to hand over power two weeks before the coup but was not afforded the chance to do that and his health took a nose dive.”
He said no one ever sought forgiveness from Mugabe after the coup and there was no chance to reconcile the warring parties.
Army generals led by then commander Constantine Chiwenga moved to dislodge Mugabe after he fired Mnangagwa at the height of a bitter succession battle in Zanu PF.
One of the reasons the generals gave was that Mugabe was purging war veterans and Zanu PF was in danger of losing elections the following year.
Mnangagwa, who had a brief stint in exile in neighbouring South Africa returned to take over the reins in both Zanu PF and government.
During his 94 birthday celebrations in Harare last year, Mugabe described Mnangagwa’s government as his tormentors.
“At some point, you can forgive someone who came to you and say ‘I wronged you’, but how can you forgive someone who did not come to you and tell you that he wronged you,” Leo said.
In a subtle dig on Mnangagwa’s government, Mugabe’s nephew said the long-time ruler was not to blame for violence that had blighted his legacy. He said those behind the violence were still in charge.
“He was never violent,” Leo added. “The architects of violence are still there.
“There are people who do violence in the name of the president and that does not mean the president consented to it. It was never him.”
Mugabe’s family reportedly held a meeting in Zvimba on Friday where they are allegedly resolved that Defence minister Oppah Muchinguri-Kashiri and her deputy Victor Matemadanda would
not be allowed at his funeral.
Muchinguri-Kashiri accused Mugabe of being a sell-out in the aftermath of the coup and the former president’s family members said he never forgave her.
Meanwhile, several Zanu PF officials and businesspeople among them Justice minister Ziyambi Ziyambi, Zvimba South MP Philip Chiyangwa, Provincial Affairs minister Mary Mliswa
and former Senate president Edna Madzongwe were in Zvimba yesterday to convey their condolences.
State Media|Robert Mugabe planned to return to the country at the end of this month and mutually agreed to meet President Emmerson Mnangagwa upon his homecoming before his untimely death last Friday, Director-General in the President’s Office Mr Isaac Moyo said.
DG Moyo, who was the point man in liaisons between the State and the former First Family, said the former President died around 4am at Gleneagles Hospital in Singapore despite having briefly shown signs of improvement earlier in the week. Mugabe spent five months receiving treatment in Singapore.
The State materially supported Mugabe and his family’s upkeep during the period. In an hour-long interview with our Harare Bureau yesterday, in which he described intricate details of his time with the Mugabes, Mr Moyo gave details of how he had learnt of the devastating news of Mugabe’s demise in the wee hours of Friday after having communicated daily with Mrs Mugabe last week.
“Last Saturday, I got a call from Amai Mugabe and she said that the former President had been admitted to hospital. We again spoke on Sunday and she said there was not much change. We spoke earlier in the week and she said that his condition had improved. However, on Wednesday night, she said there had been a significant deterioration in his condition.
“That day, she spoke in an agonised voice and I did the best I could to comfort her. I spoke to her again on Thursday, in the morning and in the evening and she said the situation was really bad. When I woke up at around 4am on Friday morning, I saw a missed WhatsApp call from the former First Lady and I immediately sensed that something was wrong. Ever since we had communicated, she had not called around that time.
“Upon returning the call, she conveyed the sad news that the former President had passed on. She broke down and it was painful hearing her voice from the other side of the phone,” he said.
Amai Mugabe had told her that Mr Mugabe passed on “between two to three minutes” after the missed call.
Mr Moyo said soon after speaking to the former First Lady, he conveyed the message to President Mnangagwa, who informed him that he would call Amai Mugabe to convey his condolences.
“At that point, I needed to advise the President and I called him just after 4am. Fortunately, the President is the type of person who picks up his phone, unlike others whom when you call at night you are lucky to get answered. He picked up his phone from Cape Town and I broke the news to him. After that, the President then also called Mai Mugabe to say that he had heard the news and to convey his condolences.”
“The former President hoped he was going to come back home and that he wished to see the former President upon his return. We had told him that the President looked forward to seeing him upon his return and he had also expressed similar sentiments that he would be delighted to meet the President. And at that time, we were told that the last date of his medical engagements was the 17th of October and that soon after he would return home. A week after our return, I then got a call from Mrs Mugabe and she said that the treatment regime that the former President was having would no longer be extended to October, it would end in September instead and because of that, they were now scheduled to come back home at the end of September.”
DG Moyo said since last year, he had developed a cordial relationship with the Mugabes, characterised by frank engagements with the couple who freely opened up to him on their concerns.
“For the last year, in fact even before the elections, the President assigned me to be the linkman between former President Cde Robert Mugabe and his wife . . . Members of the Mugabe family like Walter Chidhakwa and Albert Mugabe (nephews to Cde Mugabe) visited me and told me of their desire to visit Singapore and from that time I had also informed the President, in turn he had tasked me to work with the family, and he tasked me to ensure that they were able to go.
“We had actually assisted the former First Lady’s sister — Mrs Gumbochuma — to go to Singapore. She did not have a passport and we used our good relations with the Registrar-General to consider treating her passport application as a humanitarian emergency.”
DG Moyo said he was surprised to see news that Cde Mugabe had refused to be buried at the National Heroes’ Acre.
“I saw it in the newspapers. When we went there to see the former President, there was absolutely none of that. I was actually surprised to see it in one of the newspapers. If they had such a feeling, they had managed to hide it from us. You can see from the description I gave there was no hint of that. We actually had a very good engagement. Even when I engaged with Walter and Albert, they knew what Government had been doing for the former President, they were full of praise for the President. They knew that Government had gone out of its way to support the former President to have stayed that long in Singapore.”
DG Moyo said last year, Cde Mugabe visited Singapore for routine medical check-ups before returning home, but this year, doctors had requested for an extension of his time under treatment.
“He was staying in a house that he was renting privately. It was not paid for by Government, but from his own resources. Government only paid for his medicals. But the accommodation he paid for himself. It was fairly small (single storey) Singaporean suburban house that was convenient for his condition.”
He added that the former President never voted for MDC A leader Nelson Chamisa in the past elections.
DG Moyo said: “Of course here and there, there were also moments we had our tensions. I remember when I first went to see him after his Press conference, where he announced he was going to vote for Chamisa. We really had an exchange that day, but what then emerged was that he said despite having threatened to vote for Chamisa, he actually did not vote for Chamisa and I was told on how on the eve of the elections, he had agonised, he could not sleep. According to the former First Lady, he had woken up around 2am somewhere and he said he could not sleep and the idea that he would go and vote for Chamisa was rebuffed, he could not do that.
“And the former First Lady said she then encouraged him to follow his real wishes and to vote for comrades he has always been with and not to worry about the small matters between them, and so the former First Lady, with the concurrence of Cde Mugabe himself, said he had not voted for MDC, but he had voted correctly, I found that funny and I enjoyed the story.”
Meanwhile, Deputy Chief Secretary to the President and Cabinet, who is also the Presidential spokesperson, Cde George Charamba, said the former President was expected to be buried on Sunday at the National Heroes’ Acre. His body is expected in the country on Wednesday.
He said contrary to reports in some sections of the media, there was never any differences in opinion between Government and family on where the former President would be buried.
“It is the timeline that we are working with, but subject to confirmation with the leadership. The major decisions will be taken tomorrow in the context of the proposed programme,” said Cde Charamba.
The body of the founding President of Zimbabwe is expected to be received at the Robert Gabriel Mugabe International Airport by President Emmerson Mnangagwa, the Mugabe and Marufu family members and chiefs from Zvimba.
Upon its arrival, the body is expected to be taken to Cde Mugabe’s rural home in Zvimba. While a proper funeral programme is yet to be pronounced, provisional plans are that the former President’s body would be placed in the giant National Sports Stadium, where mourners from all the country’s provinces would have the opportunity to pay their last respects.
A team of Government officials, the Mugabe and Marufu family members and Zanu-PF party representatives is to travel to Singapore today or tomorrow to assist the wife of the former President, Mrs Grace Mugabe, in repatriating the body.
Emerging from a meeting with traditional leaders from the Gushungo clan in Zvimba yesterday, family spokesperson Mr Leo Mugabe told the media that it was befitting to include chiefs in preparations for Cde Mugabe’s burial, since he was a chief in the Gushungo clan. He also denied media reports that the former President had refused to be interred at the National Heroes’ Acre.
DOMESTIC Premiership giants, Dynamos, have added their voice to the growing international chorus of condemning xenophobic attacks perpetrated on African foreign nationals by their South African counterparts over the last few days.
DeMbare, just like other clubs in the country, has shipped a number of players to the South African leagues, some of whom have grown to become top coaches and players.
South African sport has been caught up in the web of the xenophobic violence, with Zambia’s Chipolopolo cancelling an international friendly against Bafana Bafana, which had been set for Lusaka yesterday.
In a statement yesterday, club chairman Isaiah Mupfurutsa said football can be used as a tool to fight xenophobia in South Africa, adding that if Caf and Fifa are to organise such a tournament, Dynamos is ready to take part in it.
“Dynamos FC commit to take part in a high-profile club tournament pitting clubs from Zimbabwe and South Africa during which the participating teams can denounce all forms of violence, intolerance and above all, xenophobia.
“We shall always be available to take part in any campaign organised by the leagues, Zifa, Cosafa, Caf and Fifa to either promote awareness on social ills and health conditions or denounce civil strife, violence and abuses.
“We say no to xenophobia,’’ Mupfurutsa said. ln the last few weeks, DeMbare and Kazier Chiefs have been forging ties with a view of establishing stronger bilateral relations for the benefit of Zimbabwe and South Africa.State media
Vice President Dr Constantino Chiwenga yesterday described Robert Mugabe as an “iconic leader of African emancipation”, who empowered the nation through the land reform programme “at the risk of his own life and position”.
In a condolence message to President Mnangagwa, Mugabe’s family and the people of Zimbabwe, VP Chiwenga, who is presently receiving treatment in China, said the former founding President prosecuted the liberation struggle with distinction after taking over the reins of the party in 1977.
“It is with a deep sense of sorrow and shock that I learnt of the untimely passing on of Zimbabwe’s founding father and former President Cde RG Mugabe, on 6 September 2019.
“Cde Mugabe was the liberator of Zimbabwe, who upon taking the reins of leadership of Zanu in 1977, led the prosecution of the liberation struggle with distinction until the attainment of national independence in 1980,” he said.
“He will remain our founding father and iconic leader of African emancipation.”
He applauded Mugabe for leading Zimbabwe to become the country with one of the highest literacy rates in Africa, as well as law-abiding people, who respect the Constitution and electoral processes.
Mugabe, he added, was a selfless leader, who put the national interest ahead of his own.
“He leaves behind a legacy of a country with respect for constitutionalism, whereupon elections are held as prescribed in the Constitution and the highest literacy rate in Africa.
“At the risk of his own life and position, Cde Mugabe courageously empowered the nation, through the land reform programme. . .
“As I extend my condolences from China, my heartfelt sympathises are with his beloved family, His Excellency the President of the Republic of Zimbabwe, Cde E.D Mnangagwa and the nation at large. May his dear soul rest in eternal peace,” said VP Chiwenga.State media
A senior government official has claimed that former President Robert Mugabe did not vote for MDC leader Nelson Chamisa in the 2018 presidential elections.
Speaking to State media on Saturday, Director-General in the President’s Office, Isaac Moyo, said that Mugabe could not sleep the night he held a press conference endorsing Chamisa.
Said Moyo:
Of course, here and there, there were also moments we had our tensions.
I remember when I first went to see him after his Press conference, where he announced he was going to vote for Chamisa.
We really had an exchange that day, but what then emerged was that he said despite having threatened to vote for Chamisa, he actually did not vote for Chamisa and I was told on how on the eve of the elections, he had agonised, he could not sleep.
According to the former First Lady, he had woken up around 2 am somewhere and he said he could not sleep and the idea that he would go and vote for Chamisa was rebuffed, he could not do that.
And the former First Lady said she then encouraged him to follow his real wishes and to vote for comrades he has always been with and not to worry about the small matters between them, and so the former First Lady, with the concurrence of Cde Mugabe himself, said he had not voted for MDC, but he had voted correctly, I found that funny and I enjoyed the story.”State media
The late former President Robert Mugabe’s body is expected in the country on Wednesday and burial is slated for Sunday at the National Heroes Acre.
This was revealed by Presidential spokesperson, George Charamba who claimed that there was never any differences in opinion between the Government and family on where Mugabe would be buried.
He said:
It is the timeline that we are working with, but subject to confirmation with the leadership.
The major decisions will be taken tomorrow in the context of the proposed programme.
According to the proposed programme, Mugabe’s body is expected to be received at the Robert Gabriel Mugabe International Airport by President Emmerson Mnangagwa, the Mugabe and Marufu family members and chiefs from Zvimba.
It will then be taken to his rural home in Zvimba. The body is expected to be placed in the National Sports Stadium where mourners from the country’s 10 provinces would have an opportunity to bid him farewell.
Meanwhile, a team of government officials alongside the Mugabe and Marufu family members and Zanu-PF party representatives is expected to leave for Singapore shortly to assist Mrs Grace Mugabe in repatriating the body . State media
Robert Mugabe’s body is expected home on Wednesday afternoon.
Deputy Chief Secretary to the President and Cabinet, who is also the Presidential spokesperson, Cde George Charamba, said the former President was expected to be buried on Sunday at the National Heroes Acre.
He said contrary to reports in some sections of the media, there was never any differences of opinion between Government and family on where the former President would be buried.
“It is the time line that we are working with, but subject to confirmation with the leadership. The major decisions will be taken tomorrow in the context of the proposed programme,” said Charamba.
The body of the founding President of Zimbabwe is expected to be received at the Robert Gabriel Mugabe International Airport by President Emmerson Mnangagwa, the Mugabe and Marufu family members and chiefs from Zvimba.
Upon its arrival, the body is expected to be taken to Mugabe’s rural home in Zvimba.
While a proper funeral programme is yet to be announced, provisional plans are that the former President’s body would be placed in the giant National Sports Stadium, where mourners from all the country’s provinces would have the opportunity to pay their last respects.State media
Commander Zimbabwe Defence Forces General Philip Valerio Sibanda has said whatever happened during former President Robert Mugabe’s last days should not be used to tarnish all the good he did for the nation.
Gen Sibanda said this as he sent the Zimbabwe Defence Forces (ZDF) condolence message to the Mugabe family, the Zimbabwean population and the whole African continent, following the death of Mugabe yesterday morning.
In an interview with the media at Robert Gabriel Mugabe International Airport, Gen Sibanda said Mugabe played his part during the liberation struggle. “It is a very sad day indeed for Zimbabwe Defence Forces and Zimbabwe in general. I received the news early this morning. “He played his part in the liberation of this country and in moving this country from colonialism at Independence to where we are today. “Whatever happened towards the end of his leadership should not be used to rubbish the good things that he did during his life,” said Gen Sibanda.State media
MDC Youth Assembly notes with aghast and disdain at how the Emmerson Mnangagwa military regime prioritize the dead over the living.
It has been a free fall galore with prices hitting the roof and electricity blackouts, water shortages, poverty and abuse of human rights reigning supreme under Emmerson Mnangagwa’s watch!
So loud is Mnangagwa’s silence on critical issues affecting the living!
It is Mnangagwa’s fathomless love for dead over the living that boggles the mind and at one point the septuagenarian chose to fly one person (Grace Mugabe) on a 3 million luxurious jet just to mourn her mom while the nation is plagued by a debilitating economic crisis.
Then enter Oliver Mutukudzi’s death and all the political drama that ensued as Emmerson Mnangagwa tried so hard to control funeral proceedings in a bid to please the dead over the living!
So insatiable is his desire to care for dead that he could not stomach any manoeuvres by his political rival, Nelson Chamisa to be near the funeral procession of the iconic musician!
True to his form, the poverty stricken and long suffering Zimbabweans woke up to disgusting news that Mr Mnangagwa has declared 7 days to force Zimbabweans to mourn the death of the very same man who authored their misery and poverty.
As a generation that was born in abject poverty authored and sculptured by Robert Mugabe and perfected by his henchmen, Emmerson Mnangagwa surely it will be an insult to be forced to mourn one of our detractors.
This is a man who laid a deleterious foundation that still threatens to wipe out the entire generation and we are still grappling with the ripple effects of his 37 years in power like unemployment, poverty and shrinking democratic space.
Emmerson Mnangagwa is neither a saint too, for he was and is still part of the establishment whose sole purpose at the echelons of power has nothing whatsoever to do with upgrading ordinary citizens’ lives but to pursue parochial interests.
As a generation that has been adversely affected by both Mugabe and Mnangagwa maladministration, we see no reason why we must be forced to mourn the former for 7 days.
Instead, it is our resolve that we would rather mourn the death and dearth of democratic space, good standard of living and basic commodities for the upcoming 7 days.
Stephen Chuma
Stephen Sarkozy Chuma MDC Youth Assembly National Spokesperson
LEGENDARY former Warriors captain Peter Ndlovu has revealed how he used to consult former President Robert Mugabe whenever he wanted to make a move in his illustrious footballing carrier.
Mugabe died yesterday at the age of 95 in a hospital in Singapore where he was receiving treatment.
And, as tributes continue to pour from across the world, Zimbabwe’s most successful captain Ndlovu said he always wanted to give his iconic Warriors jersey Number 12 to the late former President.
“Today (yesterday) is indeed a very sad day for us, Zimbabwe, Africa and the world,’’ King Peter said. “We have lost our father, leader, friend, hero and an icon. In simpler terms, we have lost a legend. I would like to appreciate what he (Mugabe) did for me as an individual and the pivotal roles he played in advising me, and my former manager Winston Makamure, throughout my footballing career and life in general.
“I never moved to any club without consulting him as a father, to have an input.”
The Mamelodi Sundowns manager had in previous interviews pledged to hand over one of his Warriors shirt to the late former President.
“As per the promise that I made to the world in one of my interviews, which was to be carried in a BBC documentary in which I said my Number 12 special shirt that I wore with pride and joy, would only part with me going Robert Gabriel Mugabe’s way, I would have loved to present it to him.
“I would have wanted to do that while he was still alive to show more respect. As people, unfortunately, only appreciate and honour people when they are gone.
“However, I will make means to have access, through the family, to present this shirt. I would also appeal to fellow legends to help me out.
“May his soul rest in eternal peace and may his family, wife Grace and the kids, be consoled in Jesus’ name and may the Almighty God lay his healing Hands upon you all and the whole world to be able to deal with this sad loss.”State media
Chamisa on ZBC: He says he differed with Mugabe on governance, economic mismanagement and violence. But he agrees with Mugabe on issues such as education and homosexuality. “We must be able to respect what God ordained” pic.twitter.com/abf1dBNkMt
Spiritual adviser to the late Robert Gabriel Mugabe Father Fidelis Mukonori of the Roman Catholic Church has described the former president’s death as a great loss to the nation.
This comes as other churches also paid their condolences following the death of the liberation icon in Singapore yesterday at the age of 95.
Father Mukonori said Mugabe was a believer in God.
“He believed in God and may his soul rest in peace,” he said.
“He was 95 years old, and he has rested.
Mugabe was the founding father of Zimbabwe, the founder of nationalism in Zimbabwe and the foundation of the nation.
“We thank him for the role he played in the liberation of Zimbabwe. Our hearts are heavy, we are mourning,’’ he said.
THE Zimbabwe Council of Churches (ZCC) also described the former president as a liberation icon who played an important role in shaping the history of Zimbabwe.
In a statement yesterday, ZCC general secretary Rev Kenneth Mtata said Mugabe’s call for reconciliation in his inauguration speech in 1980 gave hope that Zimbabweans would work together and transcend the racial and ethnic divide.
“In mourning RGM, the nation stands at the ambivalence of the man who together with other liberation heroes oversaw the liberation struggle for the independence of Zimbabwe,” he said.
“He showed determination, tenacity and principle during the Lancaster House negotiations.
“The early years of his rule were marked by the exponential growth and development of primary and secondary education, which firmly set Zimbabwe’s education system among the best on the continent.
He also championed a robust primary health system across the country.
“He boldly addressed the outstanding land question through the contentious land reform programme, whose intention was to give land back to the landless black majority. These milestones must be celebrated.”State media
Spiritual adviser to the late Robert Gabriel Mugabe Father Fidelis Mukonori of the Roman Catholic Church has described the former president’s death as a great loss to the nation.
This comes as other churches also paid their condolences following the death of the liberation icon in Singapore yesterday at the age of 95.
Father Mukonori said Mugabe was a believer in God.
“He believed in God and may his soul rest in peace,” he said.
“He was 95 years old, and he has rested.
Mugabe was the founding father of Zimbabwe, the founder of nationalism in Zimbabwe and the foundation of the nation.
“We thank him for the role he played in the liberation of Zimbabwe. Our hearts are heavy, we are mourning,’’ he said.
THE Zimbabwe Council of Churches (ZCC) also described the former president as a liberation icon who played an important role in shaping the history of Zimbabwe.
In a statement yesterday, ZCC general secretary Rev Kenneth Mtata said Mugabe’s call for reconciliation in his inauguration speech in 1980 gave hope that Zimbabweans would work together and transcend the racial and ethnic divide.
“In mourning RGM, the nation stands at the ambivalence of the man who together with other liberation heroes oversaw the liberation struggle for the independence of Zimbabwe,” he said.
“He showed determination, tenacity and principle during the Lancaster House negotiations.
“The early years of his rule were marked by the exponential growth and development of primary and secondary education, which firmly set Zimbabwe’s education system among the best on the continent.
He also championed a robust primary health system across the country.
“He boldly addressed the outstanding land question through the contentious land reform programme, whose intention was to give land back to the landless black majority. These milestones must be celebrated.”State media
On behalf of the Transform Zimbabwe family and on my own behalf, I would like to express my deepest condolences to the Mugabe family and to the people of Zimbabwe following the death of founding leader Robert Gabriel Mugabe.
Mugabe fought a good fight as a revolutionary, but soon became a cruel dictator after assuming power in 1980. Consequently, he ended up creating many enemies including within his own party resulting in his ouster in the infamous coup of November 2017.
Ironically, he is leaving a nation behind which is worse off economically, socially and politically than it was in 1980 at independence. He created a security apparatus so brutal it even turned against him in November 2017. He oversaw a disastrous succession plan that groomed the current leadership which he did not want to preside over his own funeral.
Today Zimbabweans are more oppressed by the party he founded than they were in 1980 by the Smith regime.
May his soul rest in eternal peace. He was a great revolutionary in his own right.
By A Correspondent- Presenting a Second Report of the Portfolio Committee on Health and Child Care on the State of Medicines and Drugs Supply in the Public Health Institutions of Zimbabwe before parliament, Mathias Tongofa lamented the acute drugs shortages affecting public health institutions.
He said:
“As already alluded to in the introduction, since the last quarter of 2018, the country has been faced with severe shortage of medicines across the board.
However, the crisis has been more severe in the public than in private health institutions as most essential medicines and drugs for chronic ailments such as hypertension and diabetes were out of stock.
Consequently, senior doctors at Parirenyatwa Group of Hospitals have been on record protesting over shortages of medicines and supplies as the situation became dire, putting lives of the patients at risk of preventable complications and deaths.
During the oral evidence meeting on the 10th of April 2019, the Minister of Health and Child Care confirmed that the public health institutions in the country were in a dire state.
He further stated that shortages of medicines and drugs, among other medical supplies, were being experienced right from the primary healthcare level to the tertiary institutions.”
By A Correspondent- The ruling ZANU PF has said that it will remember the late former president Robert Mugabe for his selfless service to the people of Zimbabwe and the Pan-Africanism cause.
The announcement was made by Zanu PF National Spokesperson, Ambassador Simon Khaya Moyo following the passing on of Mugabe in the early hours of Friday in a hospital in Singapore.
It is without irony, however, that the party, following Mugabe’s ouster and his open declaration that he would vote for Chamisa in 2018, stripped him of several of his honours including “cde” which is a sign of inclusion.
The party also accused him of being greedy after the ongoing land audit unearthed that the late veteran leader and his widow, Grace Mugabe own about 16 farms.
Zimbabwe’s founding father was also accused of being greedy for power, something that made him prolong his stay in power by using all means necessary and unnecessary.-StateMedia
By A Correspondent= Leo Mugabe, nephew to the late former president of Zimbabwe, Robert Mugabe has said that his uncle was bitter since 2017 when he was removed from power until the time of his death this week.
Leo added that his uncle was hurt by the fact that those who toppled him were his most trusted lieutenants.
Speaking to reporters on Saturday outside Mugabe’s homestead in Kutama village, 85 km (52.8 miles) from the capital Harare along the Robert Mugabe Highway, Leo said:
“He was bitter. You can imagine, the people that you trusted, the people who were guarding you, the people that were looking after your security are the same people that turn against you.
He was very bitter and it dented his legacy, … it was not an easy thing for him. His health deteriorated quickly after his ousting and he was hurt that those who removed him never apologised.”
Reports suggest that Mugabe snubbed the National Heroes Acre burial before he died because he did not want his successor, President Emmerson Mnangagwa and his colleagues to preside over his funeral.
Mnangagwa is said to have sent delegations to Singapore to try and persuade Mugabe to change his mind over the matter.
Mnangagwa has since declared Mugabe a national hero and said that the nation will be mourning him until he has been buried.-NehandaRadio
By A Correspondent- Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services Minister Monica Mutsvangwa has described former President Robert Gabriel Mugabe as a fatherly figure for Zimbabwe who was pivotal in shaping Zimbabwe’s history through his dedication to the independence and development of the country.
Minister Mutsvangwa said the nation was “deeply saddened” by the passing on of Mugabe, adding that no history could be written in the country without mentioning his name.
Said Mutsvangwa:
“Clearly, he dedicated his life to making sure that Zimbabwe becomes independent.
He was committed to the revolution right from the start and we gained our Independence in 1980.”-StateMedia
