Highlanders rediscovered their winning path after beating Bulawayo Chiefs 3-1 in a rescheduled league match played at Barbourfields Stadium on Wednesday.
Bosso had gone for five games without a win, but they put on a dominant performance to end the run in front of their new Dutch coach Hendrik Pieter de Jongh who watched from the stands.
They took the game to Chiefs in the opening minutes and created a couple of chances. It was until the 26th minute when Prince Dube broke the deadlock before Tinashe Makanda doubled the advantage ten minutes later.
Makanda got his brace in the 56th minute, stretching the lead to 3-0.
Tshilamoya could have made it four just after the hour, but Ray Lunga’s tap-in was ruled for an offside.
Chiefs, however, managed to pull one goal back on the 85th minute through Hugh Chikosa but the effort was a mere consolation as it ended 3-1 to the visitors.
The result puts Highlanders into the 11th position with 28 points, four above the drop zone while Chiefs remain number 17 with 21 points.
At Luveve, Chicken Inn moved to the top of the log after beating Herentals 4-1.
The Gamecocks are now tied with CAPS United on 41 points but have a superior goal difference.
Brett Amidu scored a brace to add to goals from Tichaona Chipunza and Innocent Muchaneka.
The Students got their goal from Juan Mutudza in the stoppage time.
Results: Bulawayo Chiefs 1-3 Highlanders Chicken Inn 4-1 Herentals
ZimLive|The Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) announced Wednesday that it had frozen the accounts of five companies as it battles to suppress illegal foreign currency trading on the parallel market.
The RBZ last Friday froze the accounts of four companies accused of fuelling parallel market trading and devastating the local currency which traded as low as 1:27 to the United States dollar.
The exchange rate on the parallel market stabilised at around 1:14 to the United States dollar over the weekend into Monday, almost converging with the interbank rate. But the Zimbabwe dollar quickened its decline again on Wednesday with the rate climbing to 1:19.
In a notice to banks, the RBZ said it was ordering a freeze on the accounts of Bill Height Investments, Landela Investments, Rimosa Trading, Fossil Agro and Traverze Travel.
Zanu PF MP Justice Mayor Wadyajena identified three of the companies – Landela Investments, Rimosa Trading and Fossil Agro – as being owned by petroleum tycoon, Kudakwashe Tagwirei.
Tagwirei, a benefactor of President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s Zanu PF party whose Sakunda Holdings is the funder of the government’s controversial Command Agriculture programme, was on last week’s freeze list with Sakunda.
Traverze used to handle the government’s foreign travel bookings before the tender was awarded to East Town Holdings owned by Mary Chiwenga last year. Traverze is owned by Zodwa Mkandla.
President Mnangagwa had hailed the impact of last week’s accounts freeze, telling an audience in New York on September 21: “We have people who found ways to fight that (stability of the currency) and undermine it, but yesterday (Friday), we also became smarter than them and so we took some action.
“We have now arrested the galloping rate which was galloping from about eight, within few days it had gone up to 10, and 20. By the time we left, it had gone down and I think today it is about 14.”
Meanwhile, the Reserve Bank has denied that it had lifted the freeze on the accounts of Access Finance, Croco Motors, Spartan Security and Sakunda Holdings which were affected by the directive issued last week to facilitate a money laundering investigation.
Mirirai Chiremba, the RBZ’s Financial Intelligence Unit head, said in a statement Wednesday that the accounts remained frozen until the probe was done.
“We have become aware of false media reports suggesting that a directive has since been issued unfreezing some or all of the said accounts. We advise that the said accounts of the named entities in the directive remain frozen, pending finalisation of our analysis,” Chiremba said.
Spartan Security is owned by Tarisai Mnangagwa, a nephew of the president.
City Press|The proverb “blood is thicker than water” could be in for a tough test with two politicians who are the sons of Botswana’s first president, Seretse Khama, approaching elections from opposite political sides.
This happens as Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) – co-founded by Khama 58 years ago and at the helm of the Botswana government for 53 years – hangs in the balance amid the strong political opposition it faces.
The opposition was to some extent bolstered by the departure of former Botswana president Ian Khama, who ditched the BDP for the newly-formed Botswana Progressive Front (BPF).
Khama was, however, not happy that his brother remained with BDP and has publicly expressed his desire to have him join BPF as well.
Khama left the BDP a few months ago after a fall-out with his successor, Botswana president Mokgweetsi Masisi, and joined BPF.
His brother is part of Masisi’s cabinet as minister of youth and sports.
Khama’s bid to recruit his brother
Khama is chief of the Bangwato tribe which falls under the Central District of Botswana, known as the stronghold of BDP.
He recently visited the area including Serowe West – which is Tshekedi’s constituency – and told them that he wants his brother to follow him at BPF.
This is the same area under his rule where he went months ago and announced that he was leaving BDP before the community members vowed to follow him with some literally throwing away their BDP membership cards.
After getting the community to support him, Khama has now been rallying for their support to get his brother to join him.
“You previously voted (Tshekedi) as BDP. Do you now want to vote him again as BDP or BPF? As for me, I want him at BPF,” Khama said in a video he shared on Facebook.
He was addressing a gathering in Serowe West about two weeks ago.
“There was a time they wanted to get rid of Tshekedi as a minister, but they were warned that such a move will cost them votes in his constituency. Now he is being paraded at BDP gatherings to show people that he is still there even after I left for BPF.”
BPF president, Biggie Butale, told City Press this week that they were also in support of Tshekedi joining them.
“We are much interested to have Tshekedi, and his constituency in Serowe West wants him to join us,” he said.
Butale was worried though that time was not on their side to convince Tshekedi to join them.
“The deadline and cut-off date with the elections commission is September 26. We hope we do not reach that point and he is still not with us but the last thing we want is to divide the royal family.”
Tough decision for Tshekedi Khama
Tshekedi has generally been evasive on the matter and was heard saying on a social media video when a journalist asked him about his brother’s bid to recruit him to the new party: “That’s what he is saying, that’s what he is saying”.
He did not respond to questions sent to him by City Press on the same subject.
While those who want him with BPF have only four days, posters were already out announcing that Tshekedi will be launched as a BDP member of parliament candidate for Serowe West this coming Saturday.
Will Tshekedi remain loyal and stay with his father’s party or will he join his brother at BPF?
A political analyst in Botswana, Professor Zibani Maundeni, does not see the latter happening, saying it has got nothing to do with blood.
“I don’t think Tshekedi will go to BPF. One reason is that he does not like people around Ian Khama … he doesn’t like his brother’s associates,” Maundeni said.
Khama legacy and toughest elections for BDP
Botswana is synonymous with Khama, the name of its first president and if the BDP loses power this will come with a dent to the Khama legacy.
Khama’s BPF is now in bed with Umbrella for Democratic Change (UDC), formerly Khama’s biggest critic as an opposition party during his presidency. “The BPF is on its own but we were brought together by our common agenda which is to unseat BDP,” said UDC spokesperson, Moeti Mohwasa.
Meanwhile, Professor Maundeni sees Khama’s departure from BDP as a huge blow for the governing party.
“Khama took a chunk of supporters away with him especially those from Central District where he comes from and is a chief. BDP is likely to suffer defeat in Central District as a result if people there express loyalty to Khama when they vote,” he said.
Butale was also seemingly banking on the same notion.
“BDP won’t be able to get 29+ seats needed for outright power. They won 35 seats in the last elections and 12 of those seats were from Central District which is where Khama comes from and where we’re hoping for 17 to 18 seats out of 19 there,” he said.
Meanwhile, another party – Alliance for Progressives (AP) – was also hopeful of claiming parliamentary seats in the total of 57 constituencies countrywide.
“Internal strife in BDP and other parties have delayed them and while they squabbled, we were busy working on the ground. We’re confident we’re going to perform well in the elections,” said AP spokesperson, Phenyo Butale.
The Zimbabwe Republic police has in a response before the High Court admitted that the Hospital Doctors Association president Peter Magombeyi was tortured.
Under oath officer Chibaya of Law & Order section states that Magombeyi is UNFIT to travel, writes Dr Victor Chimhutu.
He continues:
https://youtu.be/InBgYZL10zs
“Here is the police unwittingly confiming that Dr Magombeyi was TORTURED.”
Syldio Dusabumuremyi was the national co-ordinator of the FDU-Inkingi party.
A senior official of a Rwandan opposition party has been stabbed to death by unidentified attackers on a motorcycle, the latest in a wave of killings and disappearances of opposition supporters in a country where an authoritarian government has a tight grip on power.
Rwandan authorities have confirmed that Syldio Dusabumuremyi, national co-ordinator of the FDU-Inkingi party, was stabbed to death on Monday night in a town in central Rwanda. Two suspects were arrested and the motive for the killing was unknown, an official investigations agency said.
Leaders of FDU-Inkingi said the killing was part of a deliberate pattern of targeting its members for assassination and intimidation, to terrify its supporters and prevent it from becoming a political force. The government is complicit in the attacks, they said.
Over the past three years, at least six of the party’s supporters have been found dead or have disappeared without a trace, and nine others have been jailed on terrorism accusations.
The government has not permitted the party to register or participate in elections. Its leader, Victoire Ingabire, was imprisoned from 2010 to 2018 for “provoking divisionism” and “inciting the masses to revolt” after she returned from exile and declared her candidacy for president.
The government of President Paul Kagame has often been criticized for human-rights abuses, rigged elections, tight control of the media and the assassination of political opponents both inside and outside Rwanda. But it has maintained substantial support from Western governments, including Canada.
Amnesty International said the latest killing is “extremely alarming.” In a statement on Tuesday, Amnesty said: “It’s all the more troubling that it follows numerous suspicious attacks, including the disappearance of an FDU-Inkingi party member barely two months ago and the death of yet another in March.”
The party’s vice-president, Boniface Twagirimana, disappeared last year after he allegedly escaped from a maximum-security prison. There are grounds to believe that “he may have been subjected to an enforced disappearance,” Amnesty said.
The international human-rights organization called for an “effective and independent investigation” into the latest deaths and disappearances. It urged Rwanda to end the “climate of harassment and intimidation” that the opposition parties face.
In a tweet on Tuesday, the Rwanda Investigation Bureau – a government agency – said its investigators had arrested two suspects at the scene of the stabbing at a canteen owned by Mr. Dusabumuremyi in a health centre. It said its investigations are continuing.
Leaders of the Commonwealth and the Rwandan government confirmed on Tuesday that Rwanda will host the next summit of the Commonwealth heads of government in June next year. It will be the first Commonwealth summit since 2018.
The summit could pose a dilemma for Canada. In 2013, former prime minister Stephen Harper boycotted the Commonwealth summit in Sri Lanka because of his concerns over human-rights abuses by the host government.
According to the official website of the 2020 Commonwealth summit, one of the themes of the summit in Rwanda will be “the values of democracy.”
In a joint statement on Tuesday, the Rwandan government and the Commonwealth Secretariat said they expect leaders from all 53 of the Commonwealth countries to attend the summit.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has held several meetings with Mr. Kagame in recent years, including a meeting in August on the sidelines of the Group of Seven summit in France.
At their August meeting, according to a statement from Mr. Trudeau’s office, the two leaders “affirmed the importance of strong and growing bilateral relations” and discussed their “mutual priorities” for the Commonwealth summit in Rwanda next year.
Paul Nyathi|The reserve Bank of Zimbabwe has dismissed reports that is has unfrozen accounts belonging to Kuda Tagwirei’s company Sakunda, Croco Motors and Spartan Securities.
In a statement RBZ said: We have become aware of subsequent fake social media reports suggesting that a directive has since been issued unfreezing some or all the accounts.
We advise that the accounts of the said entities remain frozen pending finalisation of our analyses
Issued by the Minister of Information, Publicity, and Broadcasting Services Honourable Senator Monica Mutsvangwa
Good afternoon, I have seen it proper to update the nation on the alleged abduction of Dr Peter Magombeyi. The alleged abduction was reported to have taken place on 15 September 2019. It was his roommate and colleague who made the report to the police. According to his roommate’s report Dr Magombeyi had left home informing that he was going for an all-night prayer. He advised him to lock the door since he was not coming back that night. He did not disclose the church or the place he was going.
The colleague reported Dr. Magombeyi as abducted 12 hours after he received a text message from him reporting that he had been forcibly taken by three men. Police put up a highly skilled and experienced Team to investigate the case with a view to establish the whereabouts of Dr Magombeyi as well as to safeguard his well being. Public appeals for information were made on different platforms, traditional and social media.
On the 19′ of September 2019 Police received a report that Dr. Magombeyi had been located. They tried to call him and he answered the phone stating he was in Nyabira. Police assembled a Team to go and collect him as well as continue with the investigation over his alleged abduction. They found him jovially speaking on the phone. He was lucid and coherent and gladly came with them. He was well-kempt and groomed indicating very good self-care. It is also important to note that by this point Dr. Magombeyi had lucidly granted interviews in three languages interchangeably. Part of his version was that he was unharmed and had “generalized body pain”. During his journey to the police station, he remained on his phone throughout talking to different people.
When he got to the police station he made a statement with the support of his two lawyers and his father.
In his statement, he said he had left home to go for a drink “with the boys”. He refused to state where he was abducted at and the circumstances of his release which to this point he has not disclosed to the police. Dr Magombeyi signed his statement to the police in the presence of both lawyers and father. After signing the statement, Dr. Magombeyi was taken by his father and lawyers to the Avenues Clinic for medical check-ups.
His father, Mr. Kingstone Magombeyi, expressed concerns for his son’s security and hired a private security firm. The ZRP saw it fit to deliver on their constitutional mandate by providing their own details for Dr. Magombeyi’s protection.
Dr. Magombeyi was assessed by Govt doctors and his own private doctors and different medical specimen were obtained for further examinations. On the 24th of September 2019, 15 unidentified individuals tried to take out Dr Magombeyi from his hospital bed but the police were concerned for his safety. They stopped the individual awake to the fact that he was a victim of an alleged previous abduction. They called for reinforcements.
The police are keen to apprehend the alleged abductors so as to bring them to justice and protect the public. They, therefore, sought the court’s assistance in delaying Dr. Magombeyi’s departure to South Africa before giving the vital leads they needed to advance their investigation. It is a duty of the police to protect and guarantee the safety of all its citizens. The Police will not ask for this delay beyond a sensible few more hours. By that time the other information they are waiting for is expected to have been availed.
The Government assures the nation that Dr. Magombeyi is not being held against his will. Satisfied that his personal security is guaranteed Government will ensure that Dr. Magombeyi is free to travel to a place of his choice without hindrance.
It’s unfortunate and an absurdity of the highest level of obstinacy that Malema has turned himself to be a paid willing implement of the of the fallen and discredited G40 clique whose majority of members are walloping in different countries dreading arrest for various crimes. Contrary to what Mr Malema says, the wishes of the family are being esteemed by the leadership of the government and President ED is on record of confirming this. It was the family which suggested the idea of a mausoleum and the wish was granted. The respect for the wishes of the family is indeed a new development, considering that RGM as a matter of not judging him did not respect the wishes of those families who did not want their relatives interred at the shrine. The following heroes come to mind, Cephas Msipa, Edgar Tekere just to mention just but a few. This is highly important information that your G40 handlers hid from you. Indeed RGM was our leader of note whom we voted for several terms and the ideology which he nurtured was not his own individual ideology per se but that of the Party which shepherded him to office which is the gigantic ZANU PF. This party is a product of a long-drawn-out liberation struggle whose accomplishment cannot be credited to an individual’s effort but rather the imperturbable collective effort of the slogging sons and daughters of the land some fallen and some still living. President ED and many others are some of these living Cdes who are marshalling the legacy of the liberation struggle forward. The struggle transcends individuals. We are cognizant of a group of the cabal who iniquitously attempted to skyjack the revolution by exploiting the advanced age of the RGM during his last days in office which led to the party structures to expel such characters. Surprisingly it is the same characters that you are dining and wining with who are misinforming you so that they gain political capital. It was during the last days of RGM rule that the party followed due procedures by instituting the process of his recall in order to reinstate the legacy of the liberation struggle which was under threat. This is not tormenting as you allege, but putting the party’s legacy on track and righting the wrongs. Even after his resignation the ED led Government ensured that the former President is well looked after. His security was intact, and medical bills were paid by the state (refer to statements by his children). Even his extended relatives were taken care of (refer to Grace’s mother assistance). During your days in the ANC and your new arrivarist party EFF you recalled Zuma and none said that it was excruciating since you were bringing normalcy. If it was a necessary thing to be done then your assertions which paint a gory picture of torment are uncalled for at a time when we are supposed to building the nation.
From Cde Tendai Chirau
National Secretary for Administration ZANU (PF) Youth League.
By Own Correspondent| Zanu PF Youth Secretary Lewis Matutu has again hit a new low by publicly supporting the move to have certain accounts being frozen on suspected money laundering and fuelling the foreign currency parallel market.
Matutu was speaking at an interview on national television last night saying the move would go a long way in curbing parallel market rates that had gone owl last week.
However economists have slammed him saying he was ill advised as there are illegal gold dealers and some parrastatals that were buying foreign currency from the streets.
Accounts from or Croco Motors, Sakunda, Access Finance, Spartan Security and Croco Motors after they suspected them of engaging in money-laundering activities and fuelling the foreign currency parallel market.
However a day after the accounts were frozen the parallel rate market has gone up to 1, 9 making the situation even worse than last week.
Several economists said Matutu was ill advised as there are several gold dealers who are fuelling the rates.
Some said it is not about those above mentioned companies but there are several gold dealers who are causing all the confusion.
“There are several gold dealers those white guys who are fuelling apparel market rates so freezing accounts for Croco motors does not help because it is one of the companies we expect to be very vibrant.
“Surely you cannot say Croco motors are into buying and selling of money,” one economist said.
Most of them slammed Matutu for being reckless saying there was need for him to be reprimanded.
“Matutu needs to be reprimanded because his statements are very reckless, let him understand what is going on first before he goes public with his dubious rants.”
I am issuing this statement to make the public and also those who are outside to be fully aware of the full facts of the issues surrounding Dr Magombeyi’s abduction.
The alleged abduction was reported to have taken place on the 15th of September 2019. It was his roommate and colleague who made the report to the police. According to his room mate’s report, Dr Magombeyi had left home informing him that he was going for an all night prayer.
He advised him to lock the door since he was not coming back that night. He did not disclose the church nor the place where he was going to. Dr Hove reported Dr Magombeyi as abducted 12 hours later after he received a text message from him reporting that he had been forcibly taken by three men. Police put up a highly experienced and skilled team with a view to establish the whereabouts of Dr Magombeyi as well as safeguard his well being.
Public appeals for information were made in different platforms that is in both social media and traditional media. On the 19th of September, police received a report that Dr Magombeyi had been located. They tried to call him and he answered the phone stating that he was in Nyabira.
Police assembled a team to go and collect him as well as continue investigations over his alleged abduction. They found him jovially speaking on the phone, he was lucid and coherent and he gladly came with the police.
He was well kempt and well groomed indicating self care. At this point Dr Magombeyi has lucidly given interviews in three languages interchangeably.
Part of his version was that he was unharmed and he had generalised body pain. During his journey to the police station, he remained on his phone throughout talking to different people.
When Dr Magombeyi got to the police station, he made a statement with the support of his two lawyers and his father was also present. In his statement he said he had left home to go for a drink with the boys. He refused to state where he was abducted and the circumstances to his release which to this point he has not disclosed to the police. Dr Magombeyi signed his statement to the police in the presence of his lawyers and his father.
After signing the statement, Dr Magombeyi was taken to the Avenues Clinic by his father for medical checkups . His father Mr Kingstone Magombeyi expressed concerns for his son’s security and hired a private security firm.
The ZRP saw it fit to deliver on their constitutional mandate and provide Dr Magombeyi’s protection. He was assessed by government doctors and his own private doctors and other different medical specimen were obtained for further medical examination.
On the 24th of September 2019 15 unidentified individuals tried to take Dr Magombeyi from his hospital bed but the police who were concerned for his safety stopped them. They stopped the individual on the basis that he was a victim of an alleged previous abduction. They called for reinforcement.
The police is keen to apprehend the alleged abductors so as to bring them to justice and protect the public. They therefore sought the court’s assistance to delay Dr Magombeyi’s departure to South Africa before getting the vital leads they need to advance their investigations.
It is duty of the police to protect the safety of its citizens. The police will not ask for this delay beyond a few more sensible hours. By that time the other information that they are waiting for is expected to have been availed.
The government would like to assure the nation that Dr Magombeyi is not being held against his will. Once the police are satisfied that his personal security is guaranteed government will ensure that Dr Magombeyi is free to travel to a place of his choice without hindrance.
Our response to the letter by Ex-US Diplomats Charles Ray, Christopher Dell, Bruce Wharton & others. We believe their letter to Harvard is full of hate, malice, jealousy and a racist-induced disbelief that a black woman can be honored by such a high-ranking university. pic.twitter.com/wIuc2Ea3wa
Our response to the letter by Ex-US Diplomats Charles Ray, Christopher Dell, Bruce Wharton & others. We believe their letter to Harvard is full of hate, malice, jealousy and a racist-induced disbelief that a black woman can be honored by such a high-ranking university. pic.twitter.com/wIuc2Ea3wa
Our response to the letter by Ex-US Diplomats Charles Ray, Christopher Dell, Bruce Wharton & others. We believe their letter to Harvard is full of hate, malice, jealousy and a racist-induced disbelief that a black woman can be honored by such a high-ranking university. pic.twitter.com/wIuc2Ea3wa
David Coltart|Zimbabweans can be forgiven for thinking that they must be with Alice in Wonderland because our legal system and law enforcement is so increasingly and utterly bizarre.
About 10 days ago a medical doctor, the President of the Zimbabwe Hospital Doctors Association, who was representing doctors in salary negotiations with government, Dr Peter Magombeyi, was abducted and disappeared for 5 days. He was found by police last Thursday night dumped in the bush disorientated and suffering from loss of memory. Initially although he was the victim he was denied access to his lawyers and fellow medical practitioners who had been looking for him.
Since he was allowed to leave the police station in the early hours of last Friday morning he has been hospitalized. Senior doctors have reported that although he has not suffered major external physical injuries his body and blood samples show that he has been tortured, and possibly injected with an unknown substance. There is one report this evening put out by a credible Zimbabwean journalist that he has been poisoned.
Whatever the case his medical team has recommended that he be transferred to a South African hospital so that he can receive more specialized observation, diagnosis and treatment. This morning Dr Magombeyi’s legal team got wind of news that the police intended to prevent him from leaving the country, even though he is the victim of his own disappearance and torture, not the accused.
An urgent application was brought before the High Court by Dr Magombeyi’s father, Kingstone Magombeyi, against the Commisioner of Police seeking an interdict preventing the police from stopping his transfer to a South African hospital. The Commissioner of Police was represented by a government lawyer who consented to the order.
This evening when the medical team tried to assist Dr Magombeyi to be discharged from the hospital he is in to catch a flight to South Africa, they were barred by police backed by Riot Police from leaving. The police were in clear contempt of the High Court order but resolutely refused to allow Dr Magombeyi to leave.
The Commissioner of Police has now filed an urgent application seeking to overturn the order granted by consent this morning, using, bizarrely, the Constitution to justify his claim and equally bizarrely asserting that the government lawyer had no right to consent to the original order. I have attached some of the court papers filed this evening which are in legal terms at least utterly bizarre.
The affidavit of the officer in charge of police Law and Order section, Michael Chibaya, is particularly astonishing. It is attached below. In paragraph 3.2 Chibaya states under oath that the Respondent’s son – the “Respondent” is Dr Magombeyi’s father Kingstone Magombeyi in whose name the High Court order was obtained- i.e. Dr Mgombeyi, “underwent medical examination and the government doctors indicated that he is unfit to travel”. In the next paragraph Chibaya states that Dr Magombeyi “is being given security for his own personal safety and it will be prudent that if he is to go to South Africa for medical examination that he be given security by the State and in the mean time no such arrangements have been made.” Unwittingly the police officer confirms that Dr Magombeyi has been tortured because why else would he be unfit to travel? But of course it is not the State’s prerogative to decide whether he is fit enough to travel or not, that is up to Dr Magombeyi, his family and his own medical team. And the “security concern” is simply risible – Dr Magombeyi is not an accused person and once again it is his decision whether he needs State provided “security”, whatever that means.
It goes without saying that Dr Magombeyi is the victim in all of this. In all the papers I have managed to read the police have not said that he is accused of anything – something I suppose they would be reluctant to say on oath because it would just be so ridiculous. If Dr Magombeyi is not an accused person then it follows the police have no right to interfere with his liberty, one of the most fundamental Constitutional rights. And they certainly have no right to prevent him from seeking the medical treatment his doctors believe he should receive.
So why is the regime doing this? I don’t know but can only speculate. It has been the regime’s contention that either the disappearance was “fake”, namely that Dr Magombeyi organised for himself to be abducted, tortured and dumped in the bush, or that the disappearance was the work of a “3rd Force” which presumably, according to this line of propaganda, abducted Dr Magombeyi against his will in a bid to embarrass Mr Mnangagwa as he was about to leave for the UN. As absurd as these allegations are, even if they were true neither constitute a crime committed by Dr Magombeyi. It is pertinent to note that he hasn’t released a single statement since his abduction to suggest any motive even if he did abduct himself. In other words it isn’t a crime to disappear oneself, self flagellate or get lost in the bush. It certainly isn’t a crime to be abducted by a 3rd Force.
Although the regime hasn’t decided which of these stories it is going to stick with, both of the stories have become increasingly problematic in the face of medical evidence which shows that Dr Magombeyi has suffered severe trauma. Right from the outset the claims of the regime were ludicrous – for example given their silence regarding nearly all of the other 50 disappearances this year, does their assertion that the disappearance of Dr Magombeyi was “fake” mean logically that all the others were “real” and committed by state agents?
But there is no doubt that the news that Dr Magombeyi needs certain further tests in South Africa has
alarmed the regime even further . If expert medical opinion in South Africa reveals that Dr Magombeyi has been tortured, electrocuted or even poisoned (or injected with other substances) that will be deeply embarrassing to the regime.
It appears that the regime, confronted by a decision between the devil and the deep blue sea, has now decided that it must prevent Dr Magombeyi from traveling to get this further medical diagnosis and treatment. That has resulted in the utterly bizarre events of today where a victim is treated as if he is a common criminal.
This is a regime which is increasingly paranoid and unhinged. It has dug itself into a deep hole. In seeking to exculpate itself from the crimes against humanity it is alleged to have committed in recent months, which systematic disappearances by the State are, it has spun a propaganda yarn which is increasingly untenable and deeply embarrassing to Mr Mnangagwa who will have to face the international media in New York if this goes horribly awry with South African doctors leveling serious allegations against his government.
What is worrying however is the report this evening that Dr Magombeyi may have been poisoned and that he needs urgent medical attention for this. Equally troubling is the report that critical evidence of what may have been injected into his system may be lost if there is any further delay. So both medically and forensically it is critically important that he be allowed to travel to South Africa.
The international community must flex its muscles, particularly the South African government . Having gone to Court Dr Magombeyi has exhausted his domestic remedies against a regime which has scant regard for the rule of law and constitutionalism. It appears his life may depend on a robust demand being made by the international community.
Mr Mnangagwa himself must be left in no doubt about the severe consequences of this barbaric conduct demonstrated by his government today. In short the international community must speak out to compel the Mnangagwa regime to allow Dr Magombeyi to seek urgent medical treatment in South Africa.
Farai Dziva|The burial of former Zimbabwean leader Robert Mugabe is shrouded in secrecy and mystery.
The real location of Mugabe’s corpse has remained a mystery the nation might have to endure for a thousand years. The late 95 year old’s nephew, Leo, says Mugabe ‘s is a chief whose resting place and its dating cannot be known.
Everything is meant to confuse and upset both his close family and the nation at large.
The development comes as usually reliable sources told reporters Mugabe was secretly buried in Zvimba last week, linking well with several video recorded statements by the Mugabe family spokesman, Leo who clearly said that at the heroes acre, the government will bury something else that is not his bosy.
They even provided photographic evidence of the burial site.
So confusing is the matter that Leo Mugabe himself acknowledged, leading to him altogether cancelling the government imposed heroes burial function previously slated for the 15th Sept 2019.
In other interviews he categorically announced that the public would never know either when or where Mugabe’s remains will be interred.
The Mugabe burial site and its dating should thus be just like that of King Lobengula whose remains since the 1890s, have remained a mystery. Is the latest twist a deliberate pile up to the confusion, so people will be forever continue in derision?
Even Julius Malema has his own Mugabe corpse replica(video with G40 kingpins), and Leo Mugabe announced on LIVE video that at the HeroesAcre govt will bury something else, not the body, meaning the Gushungo family has another fake body = 3 corpses. So, which one will ED be given? pic.twitter.com/HznIFBOj2M
Even Julius Malema Has A Fake Mugabe Corpse, And Leo Mugabe Said The Family Has Another Counterfeit One To Give Govt At Heroes Acre, Meaning There Are 3 Zvitunhas | WHICH ONE IS ED BEING GIVEN?
Even Julius Malema has his own Mugabe corpse replica(video with G40 kingpins), and Leo Mugabe announced on LIVE video that at the HeroesAcre govt will bury something else, not the body, meaning the Gushungo family has another fake body = 3 corpses. So, which one will ED be given? pic.twitter.com/HznIFBOj2M
Even Julius Malema Has A Fake Mugabe Corpse, And Leo Mugabe Said The Family Has Another Counterfeit One To Give Govt At Heroes Acre, Meaning There Are 3 Zvitunhas | WHICH ONE IS ED BEING GIVEN?
The real location of Robert Mugabe’s corpse has remained a mystery the nation might have to endure for a thousand years. The late 95 year old’s nephew, Leo, says Mugabe ‘s is a chief whose resting place and its dating cannot be known. Everything is meant to confuse and upset both his close family and the nation at large.
The development comes as usually reliable sources told reporters Mugabe was secretly buried in Zvimba last week, linking well with several video recorded statements by the Mugabe family spokesman, Leo who clearly said that at the heroes acre, the government will bury something else that is not his body. They even provided photographic evidence of the burial site. So confusing is the matter that Leo Mugabe himself acknowledged, leading to him altogether cancelling the government imposed heroes burial function previously slated for the 15th Sept 2019. In other interviews he categorically announced that the public would never know either when or where Mugabe’s remains will be interred. The Mugabe burial site and its dating should thus be just like that of King Lobengula whose remains since the 1890s, have remained a mystery. Is the latest twist a deliberate pile up to the confusion, so people will be forever continue in derision? Reporters are investigating.
Farai Dziva| Egyptian forward Mohamed Salah is reportedly angry with that country’s FA after its members failed to vote for him in the 2019 FIFA’s Best awards held in Milan, Italy on Monday.
The Liverpool forward who finished fourth in the men’s Best Player award sparked controversy after removing all references to the Egypt National Team from his social media accounts on Tuesday.
Captain Ahmed Elmohamady and Olympic team coach Shawky Ghareeb did not cast their votes while journalist Hany Danial picked Salah’s Liverpool teammate Sadio Mane and Juventus forward Cristiano Ronaldo ahead of the 27-year-old.
According to The Daily Mail, a major investigation is now underway in Egypt after Elmohamady and Ghareeb revealed they voted for Salah, but they were not registered towards the count.
The recent development, meanwhile, rises fears the forward could cut all ties with the Egyptian FA after the two parties were embroiled in another dispute a few months ago.
Farai Dziva|Barcelona’s Argentine star Lionel Messi has suffered yet another injury, after limping off at half time in Barcelona’s 2-1 win over Villareal at Camp Nou last night.
The 32-year-old, who won the FIFA The Best award at a ceremony held in Milan on Monday, made his first start for the Catalan giants last night but was taken off at half time due to a groin problem and replaced by Ousmane Dembele.
He is likely to miss the next LaLiga game against Getafe over the weekend as a precautionary measure.
Enersto Valverde’s charges collected all three points through goals from Antione Griezmann and Authur, with Santi Carzola scoring for the Yellow Submarine.
It’s unfortunate and an absurdity of the highest level of obstinacy that Malema has turned himself to be a paid willing implement of the of the fallen and discredited G40 clique whose majority of members are walloping in different countries dreading arrest for various crimes.
Contrary to what Mr Malema says, the wishes of the family are being esteemed by the leadership of the government and President ED is on record of confirming this. It was the family which suggested the idea of a mausoleum and the wish was granted.
The respect for the wishes of the family is indeed a new development, considering that RGM as a matter of not judging him did not respect the wishes of those families who did not want their relatives interred at the shrine. The following heroes come to mind, Cephas Msipa, Edgar Tekere just to mention just but a few. This is highly important information that your G40 handlers hid from you.
Indeed RGM was our leader of note whom we voted for several terms and the ideology which he nurtured was not his own individual ideology per se but that of the Party which shepherded him to office which is the gigantic ZANU PF.
This party is a product of a long-drawn-out liberation struggle whose accomplishment cannot be credited to an individual’s effort but rather the imperturbable collective effort of the slogging sons and daughters of the land some fallen and some still living.
President ED and many others are some of these living Cdes who are marshalling the legacy of the liberation struggle forward. The struggle transcends individuals. We are cognizant of a group of the cabal who iniquitously attempted to skyjack the revolution by exploiting the advanced age of the RGM during his last days in office which led to the party structures to expel such characters.
Surprisingly it is the same characters that you are dining and wining with who are misinforming you so that they gain political capital. It was during the last days of RGM rule that the party followed due procedures by instituting the process of his recall in order to reinstate the legacy of the liberation struggle which was under threat.
This is not tormenting as you allege, but putting the party’s legacy on track and righting the wrongs. Even after his resignation the ED led Government ensured that the former President is well looked after. His security was intact, and medical bills were paid by the state (refer to statements by his children). Even his extended relatives were taken care of (refer to Grace’s mother assistance).
During your days in the ANC and your new arrivarist party EFF you recalled Zuma and none said that it was excruciating since you were bringing normalcy. If it was a necessary thing to be done then your assertions which paint a gory picture of torment are uncalled for at a time when we are supposed to building the nation.
From Tendai Chirau National Secretary for Administration ZANU (PF) Youth League.
Farai Dziva| US Ambassador Brian A. Nichols yesterday announced Zimbabwe will get $41.9 million in additional USAID funding to WFP Zimbabwe in response to the critical food security situation.
This new funding of $41.9 million brings the total amount of U.S. emergency assistance in 2019 to $109.8 million and makes the United States the largest bilateral donor to emergency humanitarian assistance in Zimbabwe.
“The United States is committed to the people of Zimbabwe.
We are proud to work with our long-standing partner the World Food Program, as well as NGOs, to deliver this assistance quickly and efficiently to the communities and people who need it most,” said the Ambassador.
Farai Dziva|Three MDC members have been convicted and sentenced for killing a Zanu PF supporter.
According to Chronicle, the three members of the opposition MDC were sentenced to a combined 10-year jail term for killing a ZANU PF member who was celebrating presidential election victory in 2008.
Former president, the late Robert Mugabe had won the run-off election which was instituted after all candidates failed to attain 50+1% of the votes cast.
Former Prime Minister, the late Morgan Tsvangirayi (MDC) had won the first round of the election.
The trio, Cleopas Ngwenya (70), Owen Ngwenya (37) and Gilbert Nkomo (65), all of Jamu village under Chief Chireya in Gokwe North, appeared before Bulawayo High Court Judge, Justice Maxwell Takuva, sitting in Gweru and pleaded guilty to culpable homicide.
In passing the sentence, Justice Takuva said that the court had considered a number of issues including the ages of the accused.
“In passing the sentence, the court considered that the accused persons are first offenders and they pleaded guilty. The accused persons also have families to look after. The first accused person is 70-years-old while the second accused person is now 65. Both are in the twilight of their lives.
We also considered that there was a delay in the prosecution of the matter. We also want people in the rural areas to learn to be able to live with their neighbours who also support other political parties,” said the judge.
Ngwenya and Nkomo were sentenced to four years each that were wholly suspended on condition of good behaviour while Owen was sentenced to two years in jail of which one year was also suspended on condition of good behaviour.
Farai Dziva|Legal experts have pointed out that the State’ s argument in Dr Peter Magombeyi’s case is fraught with inconsistencies.
The State, in its application to have the acting president of Zimbabwe Hospital Doctors Association, Peter Magobeyi kept at Avenues Hospital, has argued that the doctor is unfit to travel.
The State is blocking his release despite the High Court giving Magombeyi the greenlight to go.
Paragraph 3.2 of the State’s “correction” application, reads:
“The Respondent’s son underwent medical examination and the government doctors indicated that he is unfit to travel.”
Zimbabwe has been captured by some political fanatics.
They think that their political party is more important than Zimbabwe itself.
They think that their political party supporters are more human beings than other Zimbabweans. These good for nothing political fanatics specialise in venting their anger, hatred, bitterness and wrath against other Zimbabweans.
They think that being too vocal about their political party fanaticism makes them more patriotic Zimbabweans or more important Zimbabweans than Zimbabwe itself. These political fanatics stop at nothing to divide and polarise the innocent and peace loving people of Zimbabwe. They have captured our beloved Zimbabwe.
Their political fanaticism is doing more harm than good to Zimbabwe – hence, there are the enemies to our unity in Zimbabwe.
Without unity we are dead as a nation!
United we stand and divided we fall. No unity, no harmony, no peace and stability. No unity, no oneness of purpose, no progress, no development, and no prosperity. Without unity we are doomed for failure.
Without unity we can be used against each other by Zimbawean’s external enemies. Without unity we focus on being faulty finders and destroying each other instead of working together, prospering together and for the common good of all. Without unity we are destined to fail economically, socially and politically as a nation and our beloved Zimbabwe is condemned to perpetual poverty, political instability or even civil war. In simple terms, no unity – no peace and no development.
Unity is all that we need to succeed!
Our politicians specialise in trying to turn the majority of citizens against the remainder for the sake of wining political power – that’s what you call democracy. United as one people, no citizen can be used to hurt, harm or kill another Zimbabwean. United as a people, we can create synergies and a critical mass of like minded individuals that is necessary to turn around, reform and develop our dear Zimbabwe. United as one Zimbabwe, peace, love, harmony and tranquility will rein.
Patriotism is Imperative!
We are all Zimbabweans first and foremost. A patriotic Zimbabwean is one who loves another Zimbabwean as much as he/she loves him/herself. A patriotic Zimbabwean is one who loves Zimbabwe more than he or she loved his/ her political party. A patriotic Zimbabwean is one who can never betray the interests of Zimbabwe and its people for personal gain. A patriotic Zimbabwean will never ever join hands with the enemies of the country for whatever reasons. In simple terms, a patriotic Zimbabwean will put the interests of Zimbabwe and its people ahead of his/her Interests or political party’s interests.
The Leader Zimbabwe needs !
Zimbabwe needs a leader who can unite the nation as one, such that we all live in peace and harmony, develop and prosper together as a people and as a nation of Zimbabwe. Zimbabwe needs a visionary leader and not an opportunistic leader who draw political capital from the ordinary people’s misery. Zimbabwe needs an ethical, incorruptible, progressive minded and a transformational leader. In simple terms, Zimbabwe needs a servant leader who can put first the interests of Zimbabwe and its people ahead of his/her personal ambition or his/her political party domination. That’s the leader that Zimbabwe needs.
Liberating ourselves from political capture!
We have made ourselves our own enemies to each other. Therefore, it is only us who can liberate ourselves from this demonic oppression. We have no option except to change our mindset and unite in order for us all to prosper together as one people, in one nation – our dear beloved Zimbabwe.
Don’t forget that Love conquers all forms of anger, hatred, bitterness and wrath against each other. May the Almighty God grant us all the wisdom to love one another, liberated ourself from capture by political fanatics and unite and prosper together as one people of the great nation of Zimbabwe.
All the best and stay blessed my dear fellow Zimbabweans!
The MDC is in solidarity with Dr Magombeyi and his family who are going through severe persecution in the hands of the Zanu PF regime and its functionaries.
The contemptuous behavior by the police to defy the order of the High Court is a clear indicator that there is no rule of law in Zimbabwe and human rights are continuously violated.
The MDC is disgusted by the continued violations of the Rule of Law by the so called new dispensation regime of Emmerson Mnangagwa. Justice Happias Zhou handed down a Ruling allowing the young doctor to go to South Africa to access specialist treatment in South Africa but there are disturbing reports that the police are frustrating the Ruling in typical mafia style.
We thought that the days of flagrant defiance of Court Orders had died with the overthrow of Robert Mugabe but alas this Regime has no shame and the pretence that it’s a new dispensation has all but vanished with the perpetuation of the strong arm tactics reminiscent of the dark old days.
The hospitalization of the Doctor and his observation by both government and private doctors amidst reports that he was tortured clearly shows the desirability of him getting access to the best treatment. After all our health institutions have been destroyed to the extent that all the top leaders seek treatment abroad at the slightest hint of the need for medical care.
It is therefore in this context that while we hold no brief for anyone we in the MDC are gravely concerned by this disdain and contempt for court orders and the callousness of this Regime.
Its bad enough that the Matemadandas and Mutodis of this world have been pontificating about fake abductions when there are clear cases of the state’s hand in previous incidents like the Jestina Mukoko case. Now we have a situation where law enforcement agencies are not only defying court orders but also violating rights.
We call upon the State to come to its senses and stop scoring own goals and then embark on the blame game. They must do the decent thing and allow Dr Peter Magombeyi access to the best medical attention and thereafter the truth of what transpired will be revealed.
Innocent Gonese
MDC Secretary for Justice and Legal Affairs
By A Correspondent- Residents in Mutare’s Florida medium density suburb woke up to shocking news on Tuesday morning following the discovery of remains of a foetus that was dumped in a field.
The feotus was placed in a red 20 litre bucket which had its lid tightly closed.
An elderly woman from the neighborhood discovered the remains of the feotus and quickly alerted nearby residents.
Police officers quickly attended the scene and recovered the bucket which was subsequently taken to Mutare Provincial Hospital for examinations.
Manicaland police spokesman Inspector Tavhiringwa Kakohwa said they were investigating the matter.
Farai Dziva| The MDC is in full solidarity with Dr Peter Magombeyi.
See the opposition party’s statement below:
The MDC is in solidarity with Dr Magombeyi and his family who are going through severe persecution in the hands of the Zanu PF regime and its functionaries.
The contemptuous behavior by the police to defy the order of the High Court is a clear indicator that there is no rule of law in Zimbabwe and human rights are continuously violated.
The MDC is disgusted by the continued violations of the Rule of Law by the so called new dispensation regime of Emmerson Mnangagwa.
Justice Happias Zhou handed down a Ruling allowing the young doctor to go to South Africa to access specialist treatment in South Africa but there are disturbing reports that the police are frustrating the Ruling in typical mafia style.
We thought that the days of flagrant defiance of Court Orders had died with the overthrow of Robert Mugabe but alas this Regime has no shame and the pretence that it’s a new dispensation has all but vanished with the perpetuation of the strong arm tactics reminiscent of the dark old days.
The hospitalization of the Doctor and his observation by both government and private doctors amidst reports that he was tortured clearly shows the desirability of him getting access to the best treatment. After all our health institutions have been destroyed to the extent that all the top leaders seek treatment abroad at the slightest hint of the need for medical care.
It is therefore in this context that while we hold no brief for anyone we in the MDC are gravely concerned by this disdain and contempt for court orders and the callousness of this Regime.
Its bad enough that the Matemadandas and Mutodis of this world have been pontificating about fake abductions when there are clear cases of the state’s hand in previous incidents like the Jestina Mukoko case. Now we have a situation where law enforcement agencies are not only defying court orders but also violating rights.
We call upon the State to come to its senses and stop scoring own goals and then embark on the blame game. They must do the decent thing and allow Dr Peter Magombeyi access to the best medical attention and thereafter the truth of what transpired will be revealed.
Innocent Gonese
MDC Secretary for Justice and Legal Affairs
The real location of Robert Mugabe’s corpse has remained a mystery the nation might have to endure for a thousand years. The late 95 year old’s nephew, Leo, says Mugabe ‘s is a chief whose resting place and its dating cannot be known. Everything is meant to confuse and upset both his close family and the nation at large.
The development comes as usually reliable sources told reporters Mugabe was secretly buried in Zvimba last week, linking well with several video recorded statements by the Mugabe family spokesman, Leo who clearly said that at the heroes acre, the government will bury something else that is not his bosy. They even provided photographic evidence of the burial site. So confusing is the matter that Leo Mugabe himself acknowledged, leading to him altogether cancelling the government imposed heroes burial function previously slated for the 15th Sept 2019. In other interviews he categorically announced that the public would never know either when or where Mugabe’s remains will be interred. The Mugabe burial site and its dating should thus be just like that of King Lobengula whose remains since the 1890s, have remained a mystery. Is the latest twist a deliberate pile up to the confusion, so people will be forever continue in derision? Reporters are investigating.
Former first lady Grace Mugabe has petitioned the City of Harare to have Mugabe buried at the Blue Roof. Where do you think Mugabe should be buried?
By A Correspondent- Three members of the opposition MDC have been sentenced to spend a combined 10-year jail term for killing a ZANU PF member who was celebrating presidential elections victory in 2008.
Former president, the late Robert Mugabe had won the run-off election which was instituted after all candidates failed to attain 50+1% of the votes cast. Former Prime Minister, the late Morgan Tsvangirayi (MDC) had won the first round of the election.
The trio, Cleopas Ngwenya (70), Owen Ngwenya (37) and Gilbert Nkomo (65), all of Jamu village under Chief Chireya in Gokwe North, appeared before Bulawayo High Court Judge, Justice Maxwell Takuva, sitting in Gweru and pleaded guilty to culpable homicide.
In passing the sentence, Justice Takuva said that the court had considered a number of issues including the ages of the accused. He said:
In passing the sentence, the court considered that the accused persons are first offenders and they pleaded guilty. The accused persons also have families to look after. The first accused person is 70-years-old while the second accused person is now 65. Both are in the twilight of their lives.
We also considered that there was a delay in the prosecution of the matter. We also want people in the rural areas to learn to be able to live with their neighbours who also support other political parties.
Ngwenya and Nkomo were sentenced to four years each that were wholly suspended on condition of good behaviour while Owen was sentenced to two years in jail of which one year was also suspended on condition of good behaviour.
By A Correspondent- In a move to tame the foreign exchange black market the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe is reported to have frozen another group of bank accounts linked to Kuda Tagwireyi and Traverze Travel which is owned by Ginimbi’s Ex Wife.
Zodwa Mkandla is the Founder and Managing Director of Traverze Travel, one of the leading leisure and corporate travel management companies in Zimbabwe.
This is the second time in less than a week that the RBZ’s Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) has frozen bank accounts.
Last week the FIU froze another set of bank accounts belonging to Kuda Tagwirei, a close ally of President Emmerson Mnangagwa and Vice President Constantino Chiwenga.
In the latest action taken by the FIU, the accounts which have been frozen are as follows.
By A Correspondent- Speaker of Parliament, Advocate Jacob Mudenda has said that he will engage Foreign Affairs Minister, Dr Sibusiso Moyo over alleged abuse of diplomatic passports by some legislators.
Mudenda told Parliamentarians that the red passport carried a huge responsibility.
He said:
The holding of a diplomatic passport carries with it some heavy responsibility.
It’s a privilege and, therefore, cannot be abused, especially in international relations.
I shall therefore have to converse with the Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Trade (Dr Sibusiso Busi Moyo) and deal with the matter accordingly.
Mudenda was responding to a report by Chimanimani West legislator, Joshua Sacco who had said that there were people who were speaking badly about both president Emmerson Mnangagwa and the country yet they possessed the red passport.
For Sacco, denigrating the President and the country constituted treason.
By A Correspondent- Zanu-PF secretary for Information and Publicity, Simon Khaya Moyo, has said that the ruling party was disturbed by Malema’s recent attack on the government.
Malema had come to Zimbabwe to pay his last respects to the late founding leader of Zimbabwe, Robert Mugabe whose body lies in state at the Blue Roof Mansion.
Malema described government officials as “chancers” and also attributed the high unemployment rate in the country to the leadership, not business.
Khaya Moyo said Malema’s comments were not appropriate at a funeral as they do not embody the spirit of ubuntu.
He added:
“Whilst it is everyone’s democratic right to mourn and pay respect on the sad note of the founding father former President Robert Mugabe, including the restless and careless South African opposition party EEF leader Julius Malema, it is an abomination and unAfrican to use such a platform to denigrate virtues which define Ubuntu.
In that regard, the party finds it reprehensible for Mr Julius Malema to use such a solemn occasion to spew political propaganda and score cheap political mileage.
Zanu-PF Secretary for War veterans, Douglas Mahiya, said that Malema was being used by the Generation 40 party to insult the government.
He added that Malema was a “small boy” who does not understand regional politics and will “never rule South Africa”.
Malema recently invited members of the Generation party, including Saviour Kasukuwere and Jason Zhuwao to Mugabe’s memorial service that was held in Soweto, South Africa.
By A Correspondent- The real location of Robert Mugabe’s corpse has remained a mystery the nation might have to endure for a thousand years. The late 95 year old’s nephew, Leo, says Mugabe is a chief whose resting place and its dating cannot be known. Everything is meant to confuse and upset both his close family and the nation at large.
The development comes as usually reliable sources told reporters Mugabe was secretly buried in Zvimba last week, linking well with several video recorded statements by the Mugabe family spokesman, Leo who clearly said that at the heroes acre, the government will bury something else that is not his body. They even provided photographic evidence of the burial site. So confusing is the matter that Leo Mugabe himself acknowledged, leading to him altogether cancelling the government imposed heroes burial function previously slated for the 15th Sept 2019. In other interviews he categorically announced that the public would never know either when or where Mugabe’s remains will be interred. The Mugabe burial site and its dating should thus be just like that of King Lobengula whose remains since the 1890s, have remained a mystery. Is the latest twist a deliberate pile up to the confusion, so people will be forever continue in derision? Reporters are investigating.
Traditional leaders from Zvimba were on Friday reportedly kicked out of the late former President Robert Mugabe’s Blue Roof mansion by the ex-leader’s widow Grace as the feud over the final resting place of her husband rages on.
Highly-placed family sources told NewsDay that Grace was livid after it emerged that it was the Zvimba chiefs led by Chief Zvimba who approached President Emmerson Mnangagwa pushing for Mugabe to be declared a national hero and interred at the national shrine.
“There was a stand-off after it became clear that the chiefs were pushing their own interests and prepared to alter Mugabe’s deathbed wishes not to be buried at the National Heroes Acre, but at his boyhood village in Kutama,” the source said.
The source said the chiefs who had camped at the Blue Roof since Mugabe died early this month were reportedly given their marching orders on Thursday night after a meeting between the traditional leaders, Grace’s sisters and Mnangagwa. They then left the lofty home on Friday morning.
Grace has not set foot at the national shrine where government is constructing a mausoleum for her husband, whose body was claimed to be still holed up at the family’s imposing mansion in Borrowdale.
She has allegedly refused to let the veteran nationalist’s body lie in state at One Commando Barracks or at private mortuaries, a development which has further strained her relations with other family members.
“What I know is that it’s the Zvimba chiefs who marked that grave (mausoleum) and Grace has not even set her foot there, so clearly that feud is not a lie. The people who have been taking the lead are Zvimba chiefs and they have not been at Blue Roof since weekend,” a government source said.
“If she can’t allow them to keep the body and preferring to stay at home with her dead husband, what makes you think she will let them bury him at the National Heroes Acre where the army and his enemies in government have access?” a close family member asked.
Contacted for comment yesterday, Mugabe family spokesperson Leo said: “Ummm, I am not aware of any stand-off. I am currently at my farm. I hope most of the people have gone back to their homes or farms. As far as I know, there are no changes. We are waiting on the government to finish working at the Heroes Acre,” he said.
Mugabe died in Singapore on September 6 after being pushed out of power in a coup in November 2017, and replaced by his former long-time aide, Mnangagwa.
Shortly before his death, Mugabe reportedly told his close family members that he did not wish to be buried at the national shrine and for his “tormentors” to pontificate over his demise.
On Friday, South Africa’s opposition Economic Freedom Fighters leader Julius Malema visited the Mugabe family home to pay his condolences where he urged Grace to stand firm and resist attempts to force her to defy her late husband’s deathbed wishes.
“We respect the last wishes of President Mugabe and that in our African tradition the words of the deceased cannot be undermined by anyone it doesn’t matter how powerful you think you are,” Malema said.
“If the current dispensation believes in President Mugabe, they should protect his legacy. Part of protecting his legacy is first and foremost respect his last wishes and the wishes of his family.
“It’s an absolute nonsense that you think declaring a person a national hero takes away the right of the family over the deceased. The family, especially the surviving spouse, has got the last word. It doesn’t matter whether you have declared a person a national hero; whether you are doing a State funeral, every little detail of what you want to do around the dead body should be consulted with the family, particularly when we are African and there is a very strong surviving spouse here who is not easily shaken by arrivalists, so they ought to really respect her and respect the wishes of this family,” he added.
By A Correspondent- Scores of supporters of the MDC-T led by Dr Thokozani Khupe are reportedly seeking readmission into the MDC-A led by advocate Nelson Chamisa.
MDC A Matebeleland North Provincial organising secretary, Goshen Zhou, who is also Victoria Falls councillor for ward 11, said that they have since received phone calls from those who wanted to defect. Zhou said:
We have received a number of calls from MDC-T supporters who want to defect from the party to MDC Alliance. They have expressed their desire to come back.
Some of them have approached the provincial leadership begging to be allowed back into the party. We have requested that they put their applications in writing and we are still waiting for their letters.
News Day reports that some highly placed sources claimed that those who wanted to desert the party were citing lack of direction and the party’s participation in President Mnangagwa-led political dialogue, POLAD.
The claims have however been refuted by MDC-T national chairman, Abednico Bhebhe, who described them as blatant lies. Bhebhe said:
“The first mistake, have they shown you the letters of those people whom they are claiming to be joining MDC Alliance? Two, who are those people? Three, they must be celebrating that Zanu PF, the party that has caused us all problems are joining them, not another opposition party.”
The ZRP is aware of social media reports referring to the results of the medical examination carried out on Dr Magombeyi, some of them stating that he is wheelchair bound and others stating that he is unable to walk as a result of severe torture to sensitive parts of his anatomy.
The ZRP would like to ensure the public that whilst the results of his examination cannot be published on the grounds of the observance of the doctor/patient confidentiality and the fact that investigations are still in progress, these reports are mischievous, false and baseless. Consequently, they should be disregarded.
The ZRP is still carrying out investigations into this matter and members of the public with information that they consider relevant to this investigation are invited to approach the police with their evidence.
In the meantime, Dr Magombeyi has unfettered access to his family, friends, and a plethora of lawyers and he enjoys the full protection of the Zimbabwe Republic Police.
Paul Nyathi|Late former President Robert Mugabe family spokesperson Leo Mugabe has failed to explain categorically the uncultural continuous changing of caskets that have been seen as carrying Mugabe’s body.
Mugabe’s body arrived from Singapore in a wooden casket and it lied in state at Rufaro and National Sports Stadium in the original casket.
When the body was finally taken to Mugabe’s rural home mourners were shocked to discover that the casket had been changed.
“That is not the casket that we saw on Saturday at the National Sports Stadium,” said one of the mourners.
“This is something we have never seen. How can a coffin be changed. There must be something happening.
This week, pictures of South African opposition party Julius Malema showed him purportedly “viewing” Mugabe’s body in a completely different casket.
“I cannot answer that particular question. The safety of the corpse was taken into cognisance,” was all that Leo Mugabe could say.
Leo Mugabe further failed to commit on the current situation around the body of his late uncle following revelations that the former statesman was actually buried a couple of days ago.
Speaking to state run online media ZTN on Tuesday night, Mugabe said his last knowledge of the body was on Thursday last week when it was scheduled to leave Zvimba for Harare.
Initially, the Mugabe family announced the body would be preserved at a private mortuary after public parades in the capital, Harare, and the former leader’s rural home, Zvimba. This was to allow the body to await its purported burial inside a mausoleum at the National Heroes Acre.
Mugabe told ZTN News on Tuesday that he was specifically not aware where the body is at the moment though indicating that it had been extensively embalmed in Singapore to last a while before burial.
“When I left Harare on Thursday (last week after returning with the body from Zvimba), the general understanding was that the body would be taken to a mortuary or a place to be preserved.
“However, I have since been told that the preservation process was done in Singapore and the body can last for a month without going to the mortuary.
Leo Mugabe further hinted at a possibility that Mugabe may have indeed been buried as a cultural chief whose body needs to be dried extensively before burial which is what the embalming in Singapore could have achieved.
“If a chief were to be buried in a cave, for instance, they would have to be dried up first. Can you imagine how long it would take for the person to dry up? It is not a day’s job.
“So, culturally, they would have to spend days with the body. So, I don’t see a problem there myself. But, in any case, the fact is that we are waiting for the mausoleum to be finished. (Therefore), we still have to keep the body.”
ZimEye.com has been on top of the current situation around Mugabe’s burial with highly placed family members confirming in confidence that Mugabe was indeed buried in a cave in his rural Zvimba home as suggested by Leo Mugabe on his dicing answers on the body’s whereabouts.
According to a close relative of the Mugabe family, the late veteran politician was laid to rest last week, during a night burial ceremony at a hidden location in Zvimba only known to traditional chiefs, his wife Grace and immediate family.
“The whole thing about a mausoleum construction was a tactical diversion,” said the relative, who also served in Mugabe’s administration at one point.
“The president made it clear that he wanted to be buried in his rural home, and that his body be interred by chiefs in the area, at a location only known to them and his immediate family.
“Yes, there shall be a private event at Heroes Acre in Harare, when the mausoleum is complete, but it’s all going to be symbolic. That is not Mugabe’s final resting place, but as a founding father of our country, it made sense to have a mausoleum built for him on top of the hill at the national shrine.”
By A Correspondent- The Zimbabwe School of mines CEO Mr Dzingirai Tusai has been fired.
Tusai was sent on forced leave in May 2018 to pave way for investigations into corruption allegations levelled against him. Students and lecturers at the school protested against him in April last year complaining over alleged corruption and high tuition.
The board suspended Tusai for 3 months to pave way for investigations after the April protest disturbance at the school.
The Zimbabwe School Of Mines Board Chair said:
“No, he hasn’t been reinstated. We will be appointing a new substantive head very soon. I think discussions were held and parties mutually terminated the contract. So it was a mutually agreed separation,
Mr Tusai also confirmed the development but said he left because he felt he needed to retire.
Two people will send time in jail after circulated images of Emiliano Sala after he was killed in a plane crash. Photo: Stephane Mahe/Reuters
Reuters|Two workers from a British CCTV firm were jailed on Monday for accessing graphic mortuary footage, later circulated on social media, of the body of the late Argentine soccer player Emiliano Sala, who was killed in a plane crash in January.
Sala, 28, was flying from his previous club Nantes in western France to Wales to join Cardiff City when the Piper Malibu aircraft disappeared over the English Channel.
After his body was recovered, Sherry Bray, 48, and Christopher Ashford, 62, accessed footage of his body in the mortuary and the images later appeared on social media.
“Sherry Bray and Christopher Ashford caused immense suffering to Mr Sala’s family and friends with their deeply offensive actions,” said Anthony Johns of Britain’s Crime Prosecution Service.
“It is impossible to imagine why anyone would wish to record or view these sorts of images in such a flagrant breach of confidentiality and human decency. It was truly appalling and they both now face time in prison as a consequence.”
Police launched an investigation in February after officers became aware that a graphic image of the post-mortem of Sala was appearing on social media.
They raided the officers of the closed circuit TV firm which held the out-of-hours contract to monitor the mortuary and discovered that the company’s director, Bray and another member of staff, Ashford, had illegally accessed the footage.
Bray had taken photographs of the footage on her mobile phone and then sent the pictures to another person on Facebook Messenger, police said. Evidence showed Bray had also taken pictures of another body in the mortuary.
Bray, who pleaded guilty in August to three counts of computer misuse and perverting the course of justice, was jailed for 14 months at Swindon Crown Court.
Ashford, who admitted three counts of computer misuse, was sentenced to five months in prison.
Paul Nyathi|Zimbabwe Republic Police have refuted claims that the acting president of the Zimbabwe Hospital Doctors Association, Peter Magombeyi was “electrocuted”, “wheelchair-bound” and “unable to walk”.
The police said that Magombeyi could actually walk.
The police statement released on Wednesday reads as follows:
The ZRP is aware of social media reports referring to the results of the medical examination carried out on Dr Magombeyi, some of them stating that he is wheelchair bound and others stating that he is unable to walk as a result of severe torture to sensitive parts of his anatomy.
The ZRP would like to ensure the public that whilst the results of his examination cannot be published on the grounds of the observance of the doctor/patient confidentiality and the fact that investigations are still in progress, these reports are mischievous, false and baseless. Consequently, they should be disregarded.
The ZRP is still carrying out investigations into this matter and members of the public with information that they consider relevant to this investigation are invited to approach the police with their evidence.
In the meantime, Dr Magombeyi has unfettered access to his family, friends, and a plethora of lawyers and he enjoys the full protection of the Zimbabwe Republic Police.
Magombeyi’s actual condition remains unclear after the state on Tuesday refused to let him leave Avenues Hospital albeit against a court order claiming that he was “unfit to travel”.
Watch video of police refusing to release Dr Peter Magombeyi from hospital on Tuesday evening.
Police officers preventing Dr Peter Magombeyi from leaving Avenues Clinic
Paul Nyathi|The State yesterday shocked the world when through its lawyer, Nathaniel Chigoro filed an application at the High Court seeking to legalise the illegal hostage of the acting president of Zimbabwe Hospital Doctors Association, Peter Magombeyi at the Avenues Clinic.
The state argues in its application that the Court ought to consider that there were reports suggesting that Magombeyi was abducted. Therefore, the state would like to ensure that the doctor, like any Zimbabwean citizen, was safe and that could be done when he is within Zimbabwe.
President Mnangagwa greets Commonwealth Secretary General Mrs Patricia Scotland before holding a crucial meeting at UN Headquarters on Monday evening
Paul Nyathi|President Emmerson Mnangagwa on Monday held talks with Commonwealth Secretary-General Patricia Scotland as the country presses ahead with efforts to re-integrate itself into the global family of nations after two decades of isolation.
Zimbabwe pulled out of the Commonwealth, a 53-nation group of mainly former British colonies, in 2002 after sharp differences with London over its land reforms.
Britain strongly opposed the reforms, under which excess white-owned farmland was compulsorily acquired to resettle landless blacks, and led an international campaign to diplomatically isolate its former colony in a bid to force the southern African country to relent on the issue.
Zimbabwe stuck to its guns, and pressed ahead with the land reform program. But shortly after taking office in 2017, Mnangagwa made overtures to the country’s friends and foes alike, including the Commonwealth, with an offer to re-open a new page in relations.
It sought to re-join the Commonwealth, and Monday’s talks between Mnangagwa and Scotland – on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York – are part of the re-admission process.
After the talks, the Commonwealth chief said the negotiations were proceeding smoothly, and expressed optimism that the country could re-join the club soon, state news agency New Ziana reported Tuesday.
Before withdrawing, Zimbabwe was one of the Commonwealth’s key members in Africa, and hosted its summit in 1991.
“We had a very good discussion. We were looking at the issues that are still outstanding. There is a process and the process is underway, it is by no means complete. There are some really interesting areas which we are going to continue to discuss. It was a good meeting,” Scotland said.
She said the Commonwealth has a laid down process which every applicant has to go through.
“So this is a process which is being accelerated as quickly as possible. If you look at our process, it is a step by step and Zimbabwe is going through all the steps just like any other country,” she said.
She said there are a number of areas where Zimbabwe has made real reforms.
Last weekend, President Mnangagwa said the quest to return to Commonwealth would be underpinned on the basis that they had not been expelled from the club of former British colonies.
Addressing Zanu-PF supporters from Canada and the US, President Mnangagwa said it was high time that Zimbabwe rejoined the Commonwealth since the reason that led to Harare withdrawing was now behind it.
He said Zimbabwe had withdrawn from the Commonwealth over issues to do with the land reform programme which had since been a completed.
Paul Nyathi|South African Financial union Sasbo has urged South Africans and visitors to fill up on petrol and withdraw any needed cash ahead of its planned banking strike on Friday (27 September).
Speaking to the SABC, the union’s general secretary Joe Kokela said the country must prepare for a ‘total shutdown of banking services’.
“The total shutdown speaks to anything and everything that has got to do with banking in this country; it will come to a standstill,” he said.
“The ATM might also not be working on the day of the strike and even those who are using the swipe machines, those machines might not be working.
“We are appealing to the people, especially the motorists that they better make sure that on Thursday they fill up their tanks. We are appealing that they withdraw enough cash on Thursday.”
Kokela has previously said that he expects between 30,000 to 40,000 members across the financial industry to be involved in the strike action on the day.
The protest action has also received additional support from South Africa’s largest trade federation Cosatu, which may see the numbers swell.
According to Sasbo’s website five major marches are planned throughout the country in Johannesburg, Durban, Bloemfontein, Port Elizabeth and Cape Town.
Kokela said that the union’s members in Gauteng will march from Cosatu headquarters in Braamfontein to Bank City in the Johannesburg CBD.
This march is expected to be made up of some 15,000 to 20,000 protesters alone.
Paul Nyathi|South Africa’s main workers umbrella body, Confederation Of South African Trade Unions, Cosatu, is throwing its weight behind Friday’s banking sector strike.
The federation is backing the call from the South African Society of Bank Officials to strike against retrenchments in the sector.
“There are two planned industrial action strikes that we are going to take, both of them are highlighting the issue of job crisis, both of them are highlighting the issues that we are pleading, jobs and seemingly business is not committed to the undertakings that they have taken,” said Cosatu general secretary Bheki Ntshalintshali.
Sasbo said it will shut down the country’s banking industry and warned consumers that they can expect to be directly impacted by the strike.
Business Unity South Africa wants to interdict the action on behalf of South Africa’s commercial banks.
Paul Nyathi|MDC @20 party deputy spokesman Luke Tamborinyoka speaks on the journey the Late Morgan Tsvangirai to Chamisa right here on The Situation Now with Blessed Mhlanga.
September 12 2019. Julius Malema addressing a memorial service of the late Robert Mugabe that the EFF had arranged in Soweto.
Paul Nyathi|Acting Herald Editor Tichaona Zindoga has alleged that the late Zimbabwean strongman Robert Mugabe funded South Africa’s Julius Malema with some 1 Million worth of an unnamed currency.
Zindoga was commenting after Malema launched an attack on President Emmerson Mnangagwa for seeking to hijack the burial of Mugabe.
Said Zindoga, “How much has the moribund G40 paid Malema for recent Mugabe funeral histrionics here & in SA? By the way, a sore point with ANC cadres I met in SA in the immediate aftermath of Malema breakaway is how he was funded by Mugabe some cool million or so.”
How much has the moribund G40 paid @Julius_S_Malema for recent Mugabe funeral histrionics here & in SA? By the way, a sore point with @MYANC cadres I met in SA in the immediate aftermath of Malema breakaway is how he was funded by #Mugabe some cool million or so. @rangamataire
The Minister of Home Affairs and Cultural Heritage, Ambassador Cain Mathema says the Registrar General’s Department is now targeting to surpass the production of passports from 800 per day to a much bigger figure as government continues on its drive to improve access to the document.
What happened to the 18hrs of load shedding? It seems all this while ZESA duped all of us… the electricity, said to be scarce, is actually available and ready to kill, ready to send you off straight to your ancestors – just touch the cables to find out for yourself. This unidentified man was not lucky on Wednesday morning, when he was found hanging, lifeless, in a case of suspected cable theft. The incident happened early Wednesday morning at Nyazamba Shopping Centre, in Chinhoyi.
Scores of residents swamped the area which is at the backside of the shopping centre and below is the coverage and brief commentary.
State Media|THE Minerals Marketing Corporation of Zimbabwe (MMCZ) says it will conduct another diamond auction before the end of the year targeting to sell between 400 000 and 500 000 carats.
Two weeks ago, MMCZ conducted its third auction this year, which saw 316 000 carats being auctioned.
The value of diamond sold under the third auction is yet to be established as reconciliation is still in progress.
MMCZ general manager Mr Tongai Muzenda said they anticipate better returns in the short-term on account of the level of pricing systems that would prevail in the market.
“We are looking forward to conducting another diamond auction where we are targeting to sell between 400 000 and 500 000 carats by the end of November,” he said.
The country expects to produce 4,1 million carats of diamonds this year, up from 2,8 carats last year. At the peak of production in 2012, Zimbabwe’s output was 12 million carats.
Presently, Zimbabwe only has two diamond producers — Murowa and the State-owned Zimbabwe Consolidated Diamond Company (ZCDC), which was formed in March 2016 after Government evicted all diamond mining firms in the Chiadzwa fields following the expiry of their licences.
In June this year, the country invited seven international buyers to participate in a private sale of nearly two million carats.
Under a private sale arrangement, selected buyers are invited for valuations of diamond parcels available for sale. The price the buyer offers will then be compared with the valuations that would have been done by the producer.
And if there is a variance in what the producer is asking for and what the buyer is prepared to pay, the parties negotiate.
If the parties fail to reach consensus, the parcel will be rolled over and other buyers will be invited.
Private sales are a new model since consolidation of the diamond industry.
In the past, the marketing of diamonds was only done through scheduled auctions where buyers were publicly invited.
Zimbabwe, which has in the past not realised expected earnings since the formalisation of diamond mining operations in Manicaland, is ramping up output and negotiations are ongoing with some global investors.
In July this year, the Government signed a joint venture agreement with one of the world’s top diamond producer by volumes, Alrosa Overseas for the exploration, extraction and marketing of Zimbabwe’s diamonds.
NewsDay|DOZENS of MDC-T supporters in Victoria Falls have reportedly crossed the floor to Nelson Chamisa’s MDC Alliance.
The Matabeleland North party leadership yesterday claimed the defectors were citing lack of direction in the former MDC vice-president and ex-Deputy Prime Minister Thokozani Khupe-led party.
The supporters backed Khupe after the split of the MDC following the death of its founding president, the late Morgan Tsvangirai, in February last year.
MDC Alliance provincial organising secretary Goshen Zhou, who is also Victoria Falls councillor for ward 11, yesterday confirmed the new development.
“We have received a number of calls from MDC-T supporters who want to defect from the party to MDC Alliance. They have expressed their desire to come back,” he said.
“Some of them have approached the provincial leadership begging to be allowed back into the party. We have requested that they put their applications in writing and we are still waiting for their letters.”
A source close to the matter said the supporters were planning to leave Khupe’s party en masse after being irked by the party’s “lack of direction” and participating in the President Emmerson Mnangagwa-sponsored dialogue, which they said would not bring any meaningful results.
“They said the dialogue by Mnangagwa and other small parties has failed to change anything because the situation has been deteriorating with each passing day. Their hope is in MDC Alliance, which they view as a party which has the medicine to heal the ailing economy,” the source said.
He said MDC-T structures were now in shambles in the province.
“Many people are disgruntled with the direction the party has taken which they said was a departure from the opposition politics of wanting to bring food on the tables of the suffering masses. The leaders have been accused of now waiting for crumbs from Mnangagwa’s table,” the source added.
Khupe joined Mnangagwa’s dialogue with other leaders of fringe opposition parties which participated in last year’s harmonised elections, but Chamisa has boycotted the process.
State Media|Government has taken over Morton Jaffray Waterworks to ensure residents access potable water after Acting President Kembo Mohadi yesterday facilitated the clearance of water treatment chemicals at the border while the Zimbabwe National Water Authority (Zinwa) and District Development Fund (DDF) chipped in with technical assistance.
Pumping of water at Morton Jaffray was expected to resume by midnight following Government’s intervention, with Acting Harare Mayor Councillor Enock Mupamawonde also announcing that the city had secured seven days’ supply of water treatment chemicals from a local company.
Addressing journalists in Harare yesterday, Acting Local Government, Public Works and National Housing Minister Ziyambi Ziyambi said Government had lost faith in Harare city fathers as they have failed to provide basic services that led to the cutting of water supplies for the entire Harare metropolitan area yesterday.
Minister Ziyambi said the Government set up a committee of technocrats that will assist council in handling the $37,4 million that was availed by Treasury last week for capital projects, amid reports thatprevious grants and loans were grossly abused.
“The Government has facilitated priority clearance for the lorry carrying chlorine gas from South Africa. The consignment should arrive within the next 36 hours. The council has secured enough calcium hypochlorite granules, also known as HTH, for the next 36 hours.
“We met with the Acting President and immediately we set up mechanisms to ensure that South African and Zimbabwe revenue authorities expedite the clearance of those chemicals so that they can arrive within the next 36 hours.
“Morton Jaffray Waterworks commenced operations earlier today. The conveyance of the water in trunk lines will commence anytime now and people can start to expect water in their taps around midnight. A further 35 tonnes of HTH has been secured to provide a stockpile to ensure that this shut down of the water works does not recur,” he said.
Minister Ziyambi warned not to get into council in order to secure deals for themselves without providing services.
“We are giving them money for capital projects, but what we have decided to do is to have a committee to support them, we no longer trust them, we have in the past given them monies, loans and they bought vehicles so we want this money to be used for the specific purpose it has been released hence we are setting up this committee to assist them do that.
“We believe that Harare City Council is not doing its job and Government cannot continue bailing out the city. It used to be one of the richest councils and in fact they prioritise other things as opposed to service delivery and we are now demanding that they become accountable to residents and we are going to ensure that happens and be strict in terms of the way they conduct themselves,” he said.
On technical experts, ZINWA acting chief executive officer Engineer Taurayi Maurikira said the team was already on the ground working at Morton Jaffrey which was reopened yesterday after getting some local supplies of chemicals.
“Under the section 5(e) and (i) of ZINWA Act it is empowered to intervene when there are challenges in local authorities. We hold the mandate to supply water but it is the local authorities that that have the powers to distribute it.
“We are part of the technical committees set up by Government that are looking at Morton Jaffrey by providing technical knowledge from the production line to the distribution water points,” he said.
District Development Fund (DDF)’s Water Supplies and Maintenance director Mr Edwin Toriro said it was in process of drilling more boreholes in Harare to alleviate the water crisis after Government allocated $60 million for projects.
“Government allocated $60 million for this year which is meant to cover borehole drilling and installation, irrigation development, small scale irrigation scheme, small piped water system rehabilitation and hand pumping rehabilitation,” he said.
The Government’s agency recently drilled 15 boreholes in Glen View.
By Eddie Cross|In the past week, we have seen another collapse of our money system. After about two months of relative stability, the rate ran to 25 to 1 on Thursday and everyone was saying it’s going to go to 30 to 1.
Eddie Cross
Just like the era from 2000 to 2008 when we simply printed cash and as a result ended up with the highest rate of inflation for nearly 100 years; this time, our beloved Reserve Bank used its capacity to print money electronically and the beneficiaries then used the money to buy real money and our exchange rate fell through the floor.
Those of us who live in this nuthouse said ‘here we go again’; the inmates are in charge! We somehow break all the records – almost deliberately, and people who live in ‘normal’ societies or countries look on in bewilderment.
We hold the record for inflation, now we must have just been through the fastest devaluation ever. We are near the bottom of almost every social indicator and we seem to do all these things to ourselves, effortlessly.
Our bulk tanks are full with fuel stocks – but we have queues miles long. We have 10 000 farm dams, a million hectares of irrigation capacity on deep rich soils, yet we are short of all basics and half our population is on food aid. We have mineral riches of every kind you can name yet our exports are half those of Zambia. We have ample raw water supplies but half our urban population has no water supply from our City and Town Administrations.
We have over 100 major hospitals and 1600 primary health care centres, we produce our own doctors and nurses but basic health services for 90 per cent of our population are non-existent. In the same period when China has lifted two thirds of its population out of poverty to middle-class status and raised life expectancy from 34 to 65 years – we have halved our life expectancy and become one of the poorest countries in the world on a per capita basis.
What has gone wrong? I think it is time to go back to basics.
Since we had a new Government elected in 2018, we have done a great deal – much of it obscured by the bad things that are going on. Our macro-economic fundamentals are now almost all under control and within acceptable limits. We have an economy that is being liberalized and free-market conditions permitted after decades of control and restrictions. But like East Germany after the Wall came down – the people have stores full of goods that no one can afford.
We have taken the pain of austerity and adjustment but there has been no sign of a turnaround or an increase in job availability. If this carries on for much longer social unrest and instability is inevitable. What can we do about this situation – and that is a question for everyone, not just the elite. Here are some suggestions.
The first is to recognize that if you have two oxen pulling a plough and one is completely out of step with the other, you are not going to get much done and might even break the plough itself. We cannot have a Ministry of Finance doing all the right things and the Reserve Bank exactly the opposite. What has gone on in the past few months in that great green tower block is a complete disgrace and needs urgent remedial action to bring its policies and activities into line with those of the Ministry and the needs of the country.
Secondly I would completely liberalise the market for foreign exchange. I would establish an interbank market for hard currencies in the Reserve Bank and demand that all foreign exchange earnings, from whatever source, be traded on the market on a willing seller/willing buyer basis and then provide for all domestic market transactions to take place in local currency.
I would instruct the RBZ to determine a target exchange rate and then to buy and sell currency on the interbank market on daily basis to achieve such targets and maintain some stability. I would maintain the local currency at a relatively weak position to boost exports and curb imports and to foster domestic industry.
The third option is to allow free market forces to determine prices and values throughout the economy based on supply and demand. If we abandoned price control for energy – allowed fuel and electricity prices to rise to a level where demand meets supply, then load shedding would vanish and the queues for fuel would disappear. Remove the monopoly of ZESA and the fuel cartels and allow easy access to the market using State owned distribution systems – pipelines, railways and roads and the electrical distribution system. The market will do the rest.
My next choice of action would be the import and sale of key bulk commodities such as fuel, fertilizer, maize, wheat and oilseeds. Fuel we are almost there and open access to private traders is about to happen, but the rest are still bedevilled by domestic monopolies (the GMB) and corrupt traders and businessmen who use the system of funding and controls to secure the right to buy and sell these products at above market premiums.
Just let the private sector take this over – no foreign exchange allocations – put all foreign earnings through the interbank system and sell foreign exchange on an open market system. Then use the global market for these key commodities and allow big international traders to position stocks at world market prices in the country at key distribution points. Allow anyone with hard currency to buy their requirements from the distribution centres with stock in bond.
My next choice for action would be to secure property rights as inalienable and to give everyone who is using property for productive purposes or housing, security. This would be in the form of freehold rights for all urban housing and buildings, title rights for all who are using mining rights to extract minerals and precious metals and finally some form of bankable tenure over farm land.
We have over 1 million new homes in urban areas that have no title rights – if we valued each of those at, say, 100 000 US dollars – the total value of the rights so awarded would be US$100 billion in new asset value. If we did the same for our miners it would also create value to the extent of many billions of dollars while bankable tenure for our 34 million hectares of farm land would unlock billions of dollars in liquidity for farm activity and development. The cost to us – virtually nothing and it can all be done using modern technology in a very short time.
We need to hand over our main trunk roads to the private sector as toll roads and allow them to operate these roads on a business basis. This would take care of all the major trunk routes serving regional markets and keep Zimbabwe as a hub for transit movements.
Then I would convert Zinara into a collection agency for funds to finance road repairs and construction by all local authorities. This would see to it that our urban and rural roads are properly maintained by local authorities elected for this purpose.
If we did all of the above – I can assure everyone that most of our current problems and hardships would vanish. Perhaps one last suggestion, I think we should stop collecting taxes in the traditional way altogether – scrap VAT, PAYE, Company Tax and all other forms of taxation except border duties on imports of finished goods and raise what we need to run Government through a simple, single tax on all electronic transactions.
No tax audits, no tax returns, no Zimra, just a handful of financial institutions taking a small cut on every transaction. Efficient and comprehensive – taxing all who live and work in Zimbabwe, even those in the underground economy.
Am I dreaming? Or am I looking into the future and seeing just how great it might be, instead of the nightmares of the past.
Paul Nyathi|ZANU-PF yesterday made yet another rhetoric on South Africa opposition leader Mr Julius Malema’s visit to mourn with former first lady Grace Mugabe this time claiming that he is a hypocrite seeking to use former President Robert Mugabe’s funeral for political mileage.
Malema who leads the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) was in the country on Monday to pay condolences to Mugabe’s family following his death early this month.
The EFF leader went on a tirade accusing Sadc and African Union of not serving their members’ interests. He further blasted President Emmerson Mnangagwa for tormenting the late former President Robert Mugabe after taking over government from him through a military coup.
Zanu-PF national spokesperson Simon Khaya Moyo said Mr Malema’s desperation had pushed him to use Mugabe’s death for political relevance.
“While the late Cde RG Mugabe has always been the national, regional and continental and globally esteemed revolution icon, who relentlessly fought the machinations of the oppressor, it is sad to have a puppet of the same colonisers Cde RG Mugabe fought, in the form of Malema demeaning all that he solidly stood for. It would be interesting to all and sundry if they would replay Malema’s past where he vilified the same late Cde Robert Gabriel Mugabe he now wants to befriend in death,” said Khaya Moyo.
He said the late former President needs no charlatans and controversial figures to uphold his legacy as his life speaks volumes for his Pan Africanist beliefs even at death.
Khaya Moyo said it was sad that Mr Malema wanted to use a funeral to gain political relevance.
“In our African culture it is taboo for anyone despite their station in life to use the occasion of a funeral to demean fellow African brothers and sisters. In that regard, the party finds it reprehensible for Julius Malema to use such a solemn, sombre occasion to spew political propaganda and to score cheap political mileage,” said Khaya Moyo.
“Malema needs to be reminded that his illusion to equate youthful exuberance and verbosity for wisdom and grounded intellectuality exposes him for the political novice which he is. That Malema is now a decorated stooge at the mercy of our yesteryear colonisers is now a public secret as exhibited by his constant verbiage against African leaders and their respective countries. It is sad that he used Zimbabwean soil, the bastion of revolutionary mantra and the fortress of black conscientiousness to lampoon the regional body, Sadc leadership and its ethos.”
He said Mr Malema should take his attention seeking antics elsewhere.
Khaya Moyo said instead of attention seeking, he and his party should seek to convince the South African electorate that has continuously rejected them.
Khaya Moyo’s sentiments come after his fellow ZANU PF spin doctor Energy Mutodi went wayward claiming that Malema was being too nice to Grace Mugabe to probably win him into a relationship.
Julius Malema was foul-mouthed when he visited Zimbabwe. It’s unfortunate he tried to impress the former First Lady Grace by denigrating President Mnangagwa. Grace still looks young & is filthy rich & Malema decided to take a dig on the government in order to impress her..
State Media|ABOUT 1 000 students at the Zimbabwe Open University (ZOU) Matabeleland North regional campus in Hwange are in a quandary after the Government ordered the distance learning institution to move out of its premises to pave way for newly established Hwange Teachers’ College.
ZOU has been given 13 days to vacate the premises.
The move has caused panic among students who have objected to the decision and vowed to resist relocation.
Hwange Teachers’ College was established early this year as a satellite of the United College of Education (UCE) in Bulawayo and operates from Thomas Coulter Annex in Hwange, used by ZOU for the past five years.
In a letter to ZOU Vice Chancellor Professor Francis Mugabe, Permanent Secretary for Higher and Tertiary Education, Science and Technology Development Professor Fanuel Tagwira ordered the institution to vacate next week.
Chronicle is in possession of the letter dated September 18.
“In line with the Ministry’s policy of establishing one teachers’ college in each of the 10 provinces, the Ministry has the pleasure to inform you of the establishment of Hwange Teachers’ College in Matabeleland North Province currently operating as a satellite college of the United College of Education at Thomas Coulter Annex in Hwange town.
“In that regard, may you facilitate the relocation of your Matabeleland North regional office to other premises to allow for more teaching and learning space for the college to fully operate by end of September,” read the letter.
ZOU’s options will be to relocate to Bulawayo or Victoria Falls which, sources at the institution said, will be a disadvantage to students who are mostly from Hwange and Binga.
State Media|ZIMBABWE’S poverty datum line (PDL) was $1 827 in August, having jumped 13 percent the previous month as the cost of living continues to rise, latest data shows.
According to the Zimbabwe National Statistics Agency (ZimStat), the PDL measures the basic needs for an average family of five. Data that Zimstat released yesterday shows that an individual required at least $364.40 up from $323.50 per month to access minimum provisions.
“The TCPL (Total Consumption Poverty Line) for an average of five persons stood at $1 826.99 in August 2019,” ZimStat said.
“This means that an average household required that much to purchase both food and non-food items for them not to be deemed poor.”
The TCPL, according to Zimstat, is a combination of food and non-food items that an average family required for it not to be deemed poor. In terms of food alone, ZimStat said an individual required at least $145, up from $127.93 in July. A spike in the exchange rate early this month led to further increases in prices of goods and services, which will reflect in the September PDL data to be released next month.
Prices of goods and services have further gone up in the past two months as the local currency continues to devalue against the United States dollar. This means the PDL is likely to have also gone up as of the month of September although official figures are still to be released. — New Ziana
Paul Nyathi|Late former President Robert Mugabe family spokesperson Leo Mugabe has failed to commit on the current situation around the body of his late uncle following revelations that the former statesman was actually buried a couple of days ago.
Speaking to state run online media ZTN on Tuesday night, Mugabe said his last knowledge of the body was on Thursday last week when it was scheduled to leave Zvimba for Harare.
Initially, the Mugabe family announced the body would be preserved at a private mortuary after public parades in the capital, Harare, and the former leader’s rural home, Zvimba. This was to allow the body to await its purported burial inside a mausoleum at the National Heroes Acre.
Mugabe told ZTN News on Tuesday that he was specifically not aware where the body is at the moment though indicating that it had been extensively embalmed in Singapore to last a while before burial.
“When I left Harare on Thursday (last week after returning with the body from Zvimba), the general understanding was that the body would be taken to a mortuary or a place to be preserved.
“However, I have since been told that the preservation process was done in Singapore and the body can last for a month without going to the mortuary.
Leo Mugabe further hinted at a possibility that Mugabe may have indeed been buried as a cultural chief whose body needs to be dried extensively before burial which is what the embalming in Singapore could have achieved.
“If a chief were to be buried in a cave, for instance, they would have to be dried up first. Can you imagine how long it would take for the person to dry up? It is not a day’s job.
“So, culturally, they would have to spend days with the body. So, I don’t see a problem there myself. But, in any case, the fact is that we are waiting for the mausoleum to be finished. (Therefore), we still have to keep the body.”
ZimEye.com has been on top of the current situation around Mugabe’s burial with highly placed family members confirming in confidence that Mugabe was indeed buried in a cave in his rural Zvimba home as suggested by Leo Mugabe on his dicing answers on the body’s whereabouts.
According to a close relative of the Mugabe family, the late veteran politician was laid to rest last week, during a night burial ceremony at a hidden location in Zvimba only known to traditional chiefs, his wife Grace and immediate family.
“The whole thing about a mausoleum construction was a tactical diversion,” said the relative, who also served in Mugabe’s administration at one point.
“The president made it clear that he wanted to be buried in his rural home, and that his body be interred by chiefs in the area, at a location only known to them and his immediate family.
“Yes, there shall be a private event at Heroes Acre in Harare, when the mausoleum is complete, but it’s all going to be symbolic. That is not Mugabe’s final resting place, but as a founding father of our country, it made sense to have a mausoleum built for him on top of the hill at the national shrine.”
Leo Mugabe further failed to explain categorically the uncultural continuous changing of caskets that have been seen as carrying Mugabe’s body.
Mugabe’s body arrived from Singapore in a wooden casket and it lied in state at Rufaro and National Sports Stadium in the original casket.
When the body was finally taken to Mugabe’s rural home mourners were shocked to discover that the casket had been changed.
“That is not the casket that we saw on Saturday at the National Sports Stadium,” said one of the mourners.
“This is something we have never seen. How can a coffin be changed. There must be something happening.
This week, pictures of South African opposition party Julius Malema showed him purportedly “viewing” Mugabe’s body in a completely different casket.
“I cannot answer that particular question. The safety of the corpse was taken into cognisance,” was all that Leo Mugabe could say.
State Media|GABORONE United have dismissed reports that legendary Zimbabwean footballer Madinda “Khathazile” Ndlovu has passed away in a Botswana private hospital.
Social media was awash with rumours yesterday that the former Zimbabwe and Highlanders’ speedster had passed away after failing to recover from a stroke he suffered while conducting a training session earlier this month.
“He is alive and making a tremendous recovery. These rumours doing the rounds that he is no more are not true at all,” Gaborone United chairman Boitumelo said.
Ndlovu has been in hospital since early this month after suffering a stroke due to what Gaborone United said was a blood clot.
He was initially admitted to the intensive care unit and was unable to speak or move his lips, but made a dramatic recovery after a few days, resulting in doctors moving him from the ICU.
Following some consultations between him and the club, a new coach, Serbian Nikola Kavazovic, was appointed last week to take charge of the club’s dugout.
“We have taken into consideration the health of Madinda hence the appointment of Nikola. The boss (Nicholas Zakhem) has engaged Madinda before this appointment,” said Gaborone United general manager Thaphelo Mothusi.
Vincent Tsvangirai takes oath before Clerk of Parliament Mr Kennedy Chokuda in Harare.
State Media|Two new members of the National Assembly were yesterday sworn in following their victories in by-elections held last month.
The two are Zanu-PF’s Hlalani Mguni, who won the Mangwe seat that fell vacant following the death of her husband Obedingwa Mguni and Vincent Tsvangirai who won the Glen View South by-election, replacing his late sister, Vimbai Tsvangirai-Java.
The new MPs took their oaths before Clerk of Parliament Mr Kennedy Chokuda in terms of Section 128 (1) of the Constitution.
Obedingwa Mguni, who was Zanu-PF’s deputy chief whip, died from diabetes complications, while Mrs Tsvangirai-Java succumbed to injuries sustained in a road accident in May.
Speaker of the National Assembly Advocate Jacob Mudenda yesterday notified the House that Zanu-PF selected Dingumuzi Phuti, the representative of Bulilima West to replace the late Mguni as the party’s Deputy Chief Whip.
Meanwhile, Government has reviewed the Constituency Development Fund allocated to MPs for developmental projects in their constituencies.
“Following the Budget Review Statement and Supplementary Budget presented by Honourable Minister of Finance and Economic Development Professor Mthuli Ncube, I wish to inform honourable members that the CDF for 2019 has been reviewed upwards from $80 000 to $175 228,” said Adv Mudenda.
He urged parliamentarians to present their project proposals for funding.
Auxillia Mnangagwa greets Harvard Medical School Assistant Professor of Medicine Dr Aditi Hazra (right) while Harvard Director of Global Health Catalyst at Dana Farber/Harvard Cancer Centre Professor Wil Ngwa (centre) looks on in New York, United States, on Saturday.
Paul Nyathi|Renowned Harvard University is facing immense pressure to rescind a title of “honorary ambassador” given to Auxillia Mnangagwa, the wife of Zimbabwe’s president, Emmerson Mnangagwa, for “exemplary work” in the field of public health.
In a release last week, the Global Health Catalyst programme, which fights cancer and other diseases through outreach, collaboration and high-profile international initiatives, announced it was honouring the Zimbabwean first lady for her work in increasing access to cancer prevention and control and would organise a major conference in the former British colony.
Zimbabwe’s first lady founded a charity last year dedicated to public health work. Its website says it is “a foundation built of the strong African traditional and Christian values of love and unity.”
Some media outlets in Zimbabwe reported the award would lead to investment in Zimbabwe’s health sector and had been prompted by cancer-screening programmes that had benefited thousands of women.
However the university’s decision has surprised some observers.
In addition to a poor human rights record and allegations of electoral malpractice, Zimbabwe’s public health service is suffering an acute lack of investment while an economic crisis, blamed by many analysts on the policies of the ruling Zanu-PF party, has led to acute medicine shortages.
Members of the political elite are routinely treated overseas.
In a letter addressed to the director of global health catalyst at Harvard medical school, Prof Wilfred Ngwa and more than a dozen former US diplomats, including several former ambassadors to Zimbabwe, have expressed their “profound concern over [the] decision to honour the first lady of Zimbabwe”.
They wrote: “To be blunt, your well-intentioned work in these areas are tainted by the affiliation with Ms Mnangagwa and her direct personal connection to an increasingly corrupt and abusive administration in which tolerance for dissent is non-existent and democratic rights are violently denied.
“In light of the concerning situation in Zimbabwe, we implore your institution to … consider rescinding this honour to first lady Mnangagwa … Too often, repressive regimes will use prestigious international institutions, like Harvard University, to launder their oppressive practices and reputations.”
Mnangagwa took power in 2017 when the late veteran ruler Robert Mugabe was forced to resign after a military takeover in November 2017. He promised to bring foreign investment to avert a deepening economic crisis, overhaul government and rehabilitate the former British colony’s international image.
Zimbabwe is crippled by massive debts incurred during Mugabe’s rule and needs a multibillion-dollar bailout to prevent economic collapse. However, the continuing repression and a lack of tangible political reform means there is little chance of international institutions offering major aid packages.
THE revolutionary party, Zanu-PF, has warned South African opposition Economic Freedom Fighters leader Mr Julius Malema to stop interfering in Zimbabwe’s internal politics.
Zanu-PF secretary for Information and Publicity Simon Khaya Moyo said Zanu-PF was disturbed by Mr Malema’s provocation.
“Whilst it is everyone’s democratic right to mourn and pay respect on the sad note of the founding father former President Robert Mugabe, including the restless and careless South African opposition party EEF leader Julius Malema, it is an abomination and unAfrican to use such a platform to denigrate virtues which define Ubuntu,” said Khaya Moyo.
In the African culture, said Khaya Moyo, it was taboo for anyone, despite their station in life, to use the occasion of a funeral to demean fellow African brothers and sisters.
“In that regard, the party finds it reprehensible for Mr Julius Malema to use such s solemn occasion to spew political propaganda and score cheap political mileage,” he said.
Khaya Moyo said Mr Malema needed to be reminded that his illusion to equate youthful exuberance and verbosity for wisdom and grounded intellectuality exposes him for a political novice which he is.State media
The appropriate exchange rate between the Zimbabwean dollar and the United States dollar should hover around US$1:ZWL$5,6 based on “founded quantitative estimates”, Finance and Economic Development Minister Mthuli Ncube, has said.
While acknowledging the prevailing speculation and attendant exchange rate distortions in the market, Minister Ncube, in a public notice on exchange rate determination, suggested that the devaluation of the local currency was being exaggerated by unscrupulous elements.
As a result, this has seen exchange rate level spike above US$1: ZWL$20 within a few days last week, compared to a stable ratio of between 1:8.5 to 1:10 on the interbank market, since the re-introduction of the Zimbabwean dollar in June this year.
The Treasury boss said a lower exchange rate was appropriate for Zimbabwe but noted several limitations exist, both conceptual and concerning the availability of data when trying to establish the appropriate exchange rate level for the country.State media
Two new members of the National Assembly were yesterday sworn in following their victories in by-elections held last month.
The two are Zanu-PF’s Hlalani Mguni, who won the Mangwe seat that fell vacant following the death of her husband Obedingwa Mguni and Vincent Tsvangirai who won the Glen View South by-election, replacing his late sister, Vimbai Tsvangirai-Java.
The new MPs took their oaths before Clerk of Parliament Kennedy Chokuda in terms of Section 128 (1) of the Constitution.
Obedingwa Mguni, who was Zanu-PF’s deputy chief whip, died from diabetes complications, while Mrs Tsvangirai-Java succumbed to injuries sustained in a road accident in May.State media
Farai Dziva|SuperSport United coach Kaitano Tembo has explained his outburst towards referee Khulekani Thusi during his side’s 3-1 loss to Polokwane City on Saturday.
Tembo approached the referee at the end of the first half and launched a verbal attack on the match official.
According to the gaffer, he wanted to talk about Onismor Bhasera’s red card which he believed was a bad call. The defender was adjudged to have made a crude challenge on Sibusiso Hlubi.
“When we play we just want to play football, we are not a team that complains about match officials but what is important is for the referees to be a little bit consistent,” Tembo told The Citizen newspaper.
“The reason I went to him was because I wanted to speak to him about the red card and tell him that he had made a mistake.
“It was a dubious red card where it should have been the other way around and it has been happening in other games where the red card could have gone the other side. Sometimes you have to take it and move one.
He is the one who was kicked. He got to the ball and got the injury,” he added.
The failure by ED to address the economic meltdown of Zimbabwe has left the life of a student miserable and horrendous. There is no doubt that the economic teething troubles are negatively impacting our studies.
We are facing high accommodation costs while our parents’ salaries remain meager and useless against the hyperinflation in the country. It is clear that the overall pass rate is going to drop due to power cuts which also make it impossible to access information on the internet.
In addition, accessibility to the internet is now hard due to the ever increasing costs of data and Wi-Fi.
Some students stay far from campus and commuting is now difficult due to high transport costs following fuel hikes. The few zupco buses available in a few colleges cannot meet the number of students to be ferried. Most students can no longer afford descend meals at campuses.
Due to all these hardships, education which is supposed to be a right and the government’s responsibility for it to be accessible is now difficult to acquire! In short, Education in Zimbabwe is now meant for the elite. The education itself has become meaningless as the streets of Zimbabwe are flooded with jobless graduates engaging in all sorts of shameless activities !!!
We also note with concern the ban of NUST demonstration which left some student leaders illegally arrested. The arrested comrades include Joseph Nyamayaro who is in the src board, Tanaka Charamba, Ruramai Sithole, Peace Takudzwa, Daniel Miracle and many more. NUST students had planned their demonstration following strike by lecturers who are complaining about poor salaries and poor working conditions.
Education and peaceful demonstrations are rights and it is sad that the two are being extremely violated by the government itself.
The ban of NUST demonstration and the arrest of students as well as abductions of members of the opposition and civic societies is a flawless indication that ED has no solutions to the economic decay in the country.
As students, our message to ED is clear. We are not going to bear this anymore. ED should address the illegitimate crisis in the country which he is absolutely not willing to do. It’s time to take the legal action against ED or else we fold our hands watching our future being thrown into a cesspool.
We are very much aware that the government is trying to instill fear in its citizens through a series of abductions of those who raise their genuine concerns for the government to address. However, that is not going to deter us from demanding the government to address the economic issues affecting students.
We are demanding that the president should solve the issue of legitimacy crisis in Zimbabwe. As students, our message to ED is clear!!! We are giving him an ultimatum and we are already awake from our slumber.
The MDC Youth Assembly is riled, disgusted and nauseated by continued abuse of the public sphere by the illegitimate Emmerson Mnangagwa’s military regime to pursue its parochial agendas hiding under the public interest smokescreen.
We note with regret and disdain the recent manoeuvres by the unrepentant and unreformed Mnangagwa administration’s continued abuse of public funded media institutions.
It is overtly clear that Mnangagwa’s so called ‘New Dispensation’ has learnt everything and forgot nothing from his predecessor’s regime that literally turned a whole public broadcaster into a narrow caster for ZANU PF and Mugabe family propaganda.
ZBC listeners and viewers are currently undergoing a serious punishment in form of a mental psyching from an institution whose funding is derived from public funds in which they are forced to listen and buy in to a sanctions mantra that does not resonate with the genuine cause of their suffering.
Yes, ZBC listeners and viewers know very well that the cause of the country’s problems is an illegitimate anti people military regime that went on a rampage killing innocent and defenseless citizens on 01 August 2018 and not some travel embargo on a few elite yet they are forced to bear the brunt of listening to an anti-sanctions sermon on a supposedly public broadcaster that owes its existence to their pockets.
It is lamentable that to ZBC public interest has since been redefined to mean Mnangagwa and military cabal’s selfish interests!
We know very well that all this spirited overtures by Mnangagwa’s administration to have targeted embargoes lifted is not going to help ordinary citizens but will aid a few corrupt cabal who have off shore accounts to enjoy the loot in luxurious Western destinations.
As an Assembly, we are very clear that the biggest sanctions in our land is a political party that has left a trail of plunder and destruction and that party is ZANU PF!
The biggest sanctions in our land is a political grouping that abduct political opponents and that grouping is fronted by Emmerson Mnangagwa!
Yes, no sanction is bigger than a political establishment that ensures that 40 years after independence, we remain with ZBC TV as a solitary television broadcaster on the land!
The MDC leadership led by the Secretary General Hon. Chalton Hwende and Local Government Secretary, Eng. Elias Mudzuri today held a crisis meeting with the acting Mayor of Harare and a team of his councilors to appreciate the water crisis in the capital city as well as the decision to shut down water supplies to residents.
The party was satisfied with the explanation given by the leadership of council that the city had run out of chemicals and could not afford to pump dirty water to the residents without risking a disease outbreak. The acting mayor and councilors also assured the party that they had run around and secured some reprieve for the residents when they accessed some chemicals which are already on site to ensure that water supplies resume immediately, at least for a few days while a permanent solution is being worked out.
Currently, water treatment has begun at the city’s water works and the precious liquid is expected to start trickling into residents’ homes by end of day today.
It emerged from the meeting that central government is at the centre of the current water crisis bedeviling the capital city. Government is the biggest debtor to the Harare city council while there has been no movement in the past 20 years in terms of the construction of the Kunzwi dam, which is expected to provide a permanent solution to Harare’s dire water situation. The Kunzwi dam project has been Zanu PF’s campaign issue in every election since 1995 but to date, nothing has been done.
It also emerged that government has centralized the procurement of water chemicals and every day, council awaits to get the trinkets in terms of water chemicals as and when the scarce foreign currency becomes available at the central bank.
The other challenge is that Harare City Council’s 2019 budget was pegged in US dollars and the government‘s decision to ban the use of hard currency has distorted the budgeted pricing system. The move also ensured that the little funds now available in RTGS to council can hardly sustain critical operations such as water supplies, among other key obligations of council.
So dire is the situation in Harare that council collects$15 million RTGS every month against a projected monthly expenditure of $45 million for water treatment chemicals alone. The $15 million RTGS is inadequate for water treatment chemicals, let alone other key obligations of council.
The MDC is happy that the Harare City council is working hard under the circumstances to ensure that residents get water, including ensuring that water bowsers are provided in the communities and that the boreholes in the various wards of the city are working so that at any given moment, there is constant water supply to the residents.
The MDC hopes that government will play its part in alleviating the crisis bedeviling the capital city by clearing its huge debt owed to council as well as providing a permanent water solution by ensuring that the Kunzwi water project becomes more than an election message that is bandied about ahead of every election.
Sanctions are a blunt instrument affecting the poor and the vulnerable. We have seen arguments saying sanctions are not affecting Zimbabwe's economy and we have said, then remove them. Why keep them if they are not effective? Everybody knows that this is never about travel bans pic.twitter.com/UIzLuNS7y5
Sanctions are a blunt instrument affecting the poor and the vulnerable. We have seen arguments saying sanctions are not affecting Zimbabwe's economy and we have said, then remove them. Why keep them if they are not effective? Everybody knows that this is never about travel bans pic.twitter.com/UIzLuNS7y5
Dear Editor-While it is false that targeted sanctions affect the people of Zimbabwe, our position as a party, because of our leniency and statesmanship, is that sanctions, targeted or not, must go but after Zanu PF is GONE.
Farai Dziva|Zanu PF youth league official Tendai Chirawu has described Deputy Information Minister Energy Mutodi as a liability to government and the nation.
“I repeat once again,@energymutodi is not only a liability to Government but a liability to his own country.
It’s unfortunate that the supposed to be energetic Minister has energy to discredit his own institutions.He is supposed to be a promoter of Zim institutions …
The comments quoted by this publication are indeed mine. I did not study at MSU but at UZ. MSU has produced some of the best brains. I can not mention all of them by name,” charged Chirau.
Mutodi responded :For Tendai Chirau, ranking an institution and giving it its proper position is unpatriotic. I don’t know why the ruling party continues to rely on these dunderheads. Probably explains why we have failed in urban constituencies. The youth league is full of crap.”
Farai Dziva|Zanu PF youth league official Tendai Chirawu has described Deputy Information Minister Energy Mutodi as a liability to government and the nation.
“I repeat once again,@energymutodi is not only a liability to Government but a liability to his own country.
It’s unfortunate that the supposed to be energetic Minister has energy to discredit his own institutions.He is supposed to be a promoter of Zim institutions …
The comments quoted by this publication are indeed mine. I did not study at MSU but at UZ. MSU has produced some of the best brains. I can not mention all of them by name,” charged Chirau.
Mutodi responded :For Tendai Chirau, ranking an institution and giving it its proper position is unpatriotic. I don’t know why the ruling party continues to rely on these dunderheads. Probably explains why we have failed in urban constituencies. The youth league is full of crap.”
By A Correspondent- A serial fraudster has been arrested in Bulawayo for allegedly masquerading as a top Central Intelligence Organisation (CIO) officer and a close security aide to President Emmerson Mnangagwa before duping Ingwebu Breweries of 375 litres of fuel and $1 200.
Henessy Dube (40) of Entumbane suburb allegedly met Ingwebu Breweries managing director Mr Dumisani Mhlanga and produced a fake CIO identity card before he identified himself as a director of operations in the CIO.
He then allegedly offered to assist the company to recover money from its debtors purportedly using his influence by virtue of being in the President’s Office.
Dube yesterday appeared before Bulawayo magistrate, Mrs Ulukile Mlea-Ndlovu, facing charges of fraud, impersonating a public officer and making a false statement to deceive a registration officer in violation of Section 10 (1) (b) of the National Registration Act.
He was remanded in custody to October 4.
Dube, who fell ill soon after his arrest, is under police guard at the United Bulawayo Hospitals (UBH).
Prosecuting, Mr Nkathazo Dlodlo said sometime at the beginning of May this year during the Zimbabwe International Trade Fair, Dube hatched a plan and went to Ingwebu Breweries head offices in Bulawayo intending to see management.
During that time, Ingwebu Breweries was facing operational challenges, some of which emanated from a failure by its debtors to honour their commitments.
“The accused person approached the company’s managing director Dumisani Mhlanga and introduced himself as the director of operations at the CIO based in Harare. He told Mhlanga that he was in Bulawayo as part of a team of President Mnangagwa’s close security aides during the ZITF period,” Mr Dlodlo said.
He said Dube produced a fake CIO identity card bearing the names Majaha Julian Dube.
“The accused person indicated to the Ingwebu Breweries managing director that he had picked information pertaining to the ill-treatment of workers and war veterans by management including the impending retrenchment of workers. He told the managing director that the President was not amused and due to his misrepresentation, Mr Mhlanga was convinced and he briefed Dube on the goings on at the company with the accused person promising to render assistance,” said Mr Dlodlo.
He said a few days later, Dube returned to Ingwebu Breweries and offered to use his authority to pressurise the company’s debtors, which included companies contracted on beerhall franchise, to pay their debts and the management agreed.
Some debtors reportedly paid up after Dube’s intervention.
Mr Dlodlo said Dube further pressurised management at Ingwebu Breweries to employ his friends under the guise that they were students on attachment from the CIO.
Their contracts were signed by management and they were given tasks to spy within the company’s various departments.
It was later established that the accused person was not employed by the CIO and due to his misrepresentation, Dube benefited in the form of 375 litres of fuel allocation and $1 200 among other undisclosed benefits.
It also emerged in court that on December 7, 2012, Dube acquired a national identity card under the names Henessy Dube NR 08-682325-J-53 bearing his portrait. On June 3, 2017, Dube allegedly took another identity card NR 08-719040-R-53 with his picture but under the names Majaha Julian Dube.
“Checks with Registrar-General’s Office showed that the names Majaha Julian Dube and all the particulars including the portrait belonged to his brother who is now based in South Africa and suspected to have acquired citizenship of that country,” said Mr Dlodlo.
He said armed with his brother’s identity card and his academic certificates, Dube applied for a teaching post in the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education. He was subsequently employed as a teacher and deployed in Tsholotsho in Matabeleland North under EC Number 5710690W.
He however, unceremoniously breached the contract and absconded. The court was told that Dube has a previous conviction after masquerading as a doctor for six months at Mpilo Central Hospital.
By A Correspondent- An ugly fist fight broke out during service inside St Agnes Anglican Church in Mutare on Sunday, pitting Masvingo Provincial Development Co-ordinator Mr Fungai Mbetsa, on one side and Mr Tinotenda Magada on the other.
St Agnes Anglican Church for a while has been a hotbed of factional fights and on Sunday a normal praise and worship session came to a halt as members from feuding factions clashed.
Video scenes typical of a nightclub brawl have since gone viral on social media depicting chaos that rocked the church service on Sunday with members insulting, pushing and shoving each other.
Mr Mbetsa concurred that the church session did not come to a logical conclusion because of “political issues in the Anglican church”.
“I only attended a church service as usual. The church session did not end well because of many reasons which I cannot reiterate. I did not see any problem with me attending the service because I was born an Anglican and will remain one. These political issues in the Anglican Church started long back and we are even trying to end them, which is however becoming so difficult for us,” he said.
A congregate, who requested anonymity fearing victimisation, said the violence occurred when Mr Tinotenda Magada tried to block Mr Mbetsa from putting an offering and this angered the later to the extent that he attacked Mr Magada.
“This ignited a fight between the two as fists were exchanged in the church without any of them respecting the place of worship. It is now a policy in Anglican that there should be one service under two different reverends and two different offering bowls.
Mr Magada, who was also among the congregants, could not give a comment when he was contacted but referred this publication to his lawyer who was not reachable at the time of going to print.
By A Correspondent- South African opposition leader, Julius Malema, on Monday, castigated Zimbabwean politicians he accused of trying to ride behind the late former President Robert Mugabe’s legacy while they tormented him to the last day.
Though Malema did not mention names, his utterances have been interpreted as having been directed at his successor President Emmerson Mnangagwa.
Malema was speaking to journalists at the Mugabe family Blue Roof Mansion in Borrowdale, Harare after a long meeting with Mugabe’s widow, Grace Mugabe and close relatives.
Said Malema:
We are here to tell her (former First Lady Grace Mugabe) in person that we are very proud of her and she serves as an inspiration to a lot of us and that she must protect ex-President Mugabe’s legacy with everything against any form of opportunism which will want to ride behind the legacy of President Mugabe even when they tormented him to the last day.
The firebrand Commander in Chief of the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) spoke against the military coup that ousted Mugabe from power in November 2017.
He said:
“These types of interventions, if they are allowed, they may become an unacceptable phenomenon for the region of Sadc. We shouldn’t allow a situation where the military interferes with political affairs.
He also lambasted the regional bodies, the Southern African Development Community (SADC) and the African Union (AU).
He said:
“There is no such thing (as) Sadc, there is no such thing. AU, there is no such thing. It’s a group of old people who protect each other. They don’t protect the interests of their people. It’s a club. It’s a gentlemen’s club.
They don’t care, they don’t call each other out. They are unable to say ‘you are wrong here, you are wrong there, therefore, this is how we are able to fix it.”
The MDC is in solidarity with Dr Magombeyi and his family who are going through severe persecution in the hands of the Zanu PF regime and its functionaries.
The contemptuous behavior by the police to defy the order of the High Court is a clear indicator that there is no rule of law in Zimbabwe and human rights are continuously violated.
The MDC is disgusted by the continued violations of the Rule of Law by the so called new dispensation regime of Emmerson Mnangagwa.
Justice Happias Zhou handed down a Ruling allowing the young doctor to go to South Africa to access specialist treatment in South Africa but there are disturbing reports that the police are frustrating the Ruling in typical mafia style.
We thought that the days of flagrant defiance of Court Orders had died with the overthrow of Robert Mugabe but alas this Regime has no shame and the pretence that it’s a new dispensation has all but vanished with the perpetuation of the strong arm tactics reminiscent of the dark old days.
The hospitalization of the Doctor and his observation by both government and private doctors amidst reports that he was tortured clearly shows the desirability of him getting access to the best treatment.
After all our health institutions have been destroyed to the extent that all the top leaders seek treatment abroad at the slightest hint of the need for medical care.
It is therefore in this context that while we hold no brief for anyone we in the MDC are gravely concerned by this disdain and contempt for court orders and the callousness of this Regime.
Its bad enough that the Matemadandas and Mutodis of this world have been pontificating about fake abductions when there are clear cases of the state’s hand in previous incidents like the Jestina Mukoko case. Now we have a situation where law enforcement agencies are not only defying court orders but also violating rights.
We call upon the State to come to its senses and stop scoring own goals and then embark on the blame game. They must do the decent thing and allow Dr Peter Magombeyi access to the best medical attention and thereafter the truth of what transpired will be revealed.
Innocent Gonese
MDC Secretary for Justice and Legal Affairs
By A Correspondent- A member of the Zimbabwe Republic Police has appeared before the courts for obstructing justice after he reportedly assisted Chinese nationals to escape after they were found in possession of ivory.
Wonder Tawanda Kwaramba, appeared before a Chiredzi Magistrate for allegedly facilitating the escape of seven Chinese nationals who were on bail for the unlawful possession of 20 kg of rhino horns.
The accused is now facing three charges, defeating the course of justice, smuggling (after he illegally imported a Toyota Hilux) and fraud.
The state alleges that detectives from the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) Victoria Falls were informed by reliable sources that the accused was dining with the Chinese nationals.
The detectives made investigations and realized that the Chinese nationals had not reported at CID Victoria Falls as per their bail conditions and had vacated their premises.
They tracked the Toyota Hilux which the Chinese nationals were using and discovered that Kwaramba had driven it through Gonarezhou checkpoint before heading to Sango border post.
The state also alleges that at Sango border post, Kwaramba assisted the Chinese nationals to cross the border into Mozambique.
Kwaramba was arrested on his way back from Sango border post.
The accused was denied bail and remanded in custody to 4 October.
President Emmerson Mnangagwa and Norwegian Prime Minister Erna Solberg
By A Correspondent- President Emmerson Mnangagwa has expressed hope of pushing the country’s agenda globally following his meetings with Norwegian Prime Minister Erna Solberg and Commonwealth Secretary General Patricia Scotland.
President Emmerson Mnangagwa and Commonwealth Secretary General Patricia Scotland.
Said Mnangagwa who is attending the 74th UN General Assembly Meeting:
“Excellent day yesterday at the UN, including productive meetings with Norwegian Prime Minister Erna Solberg and Commonwealth Secretary General Patricia Scotland.
Now beginning another busy day as we push for the interests of the Zimbabwean people on the global stage.”
Harare City Council has found contingent supplies of chemicals to resume water production 3 hours from now.
The suppliers of the chemicals have been paid. The other quantities are coming from Bulawayo and are expected to arrive this evening.
Pumping to residents will be progressive from one area to another. Western suburbs will begin to receive water 8 hours from production start while the CBD and Mbare, Highfield/Sunningdale will access water after 12 hours/midnight.
The secured quantities will only last seven days during which period other quantities will be secured. We are currently engaging all stakeholders that include Government to find lasting solutions.
By A Correspondent- A war of words has erupted between Zanu PF youth league official Tendai Chirau and deputy minister of Information Energy Mutodi with the former described Mutodi as a liability to government and the nation.
Said Chirau:
“I repeat once again,@energymutodi is not only a liability to Government but a liability to his own country.
It’s unfortunate that the supposed to be energetic Minister has energy to discredit his own institutions.He is supposed to be a promoter of Zim institutions …
The comments quoted by this publication are indeed mine. I did not study at MSU but at UZ. MSU has produced some of the best brains. I can not mention all of them by name,” charged Chirau.
Mutodi however immediately responded to Chirau and said:
“For Tendai Chirau, ranking an institution and giving it its proper position is unpatriotic. I don’t know why the ruling party continues to rely on these dunderheads. Probably explains why we have failed in urban constituencies. The youth league is full of crap.”
By Nomusa Garikai: “On the monetary side, yes, we have introduced one currency. For the first six weeks it remained stable, but then our people are intelligent. We have people who found ways to fight that (stability of the currency) and undermine it, but yesterday (Friday) we also became smarter than them and so we took some action,” boasted President Emerson Mnangagwa.
“We have now arrested the galloping rate which was galloping from about eight, within few days it had gone up 10, and 20, by the time we left it had gone down and I think today it is about 14.”
Every time Mnangagwa has admitted there was a problem he has followed this up with a solution to the problem. In other words he has admitted a problem only as an excuse to offer a solution and thus show the world just how smart he is! If the truth be told, here the truth is the only currency, he is not smart at all.
At the beginning of the year, the Bond Note, the country default local currency, was on par to the US Dollar; today, nine months latter, it is trading at 14:1! Some smart leader, indeed!
The root cause of Zimbabwe’s economic meltdown is the country cursed pariah state status.
Zimbabwe is a pariah state ruled by incompetent, corrupt vote rigging and murderous tyrants. As much as President Mnangagwa has tried to put some political distance between his post November 2017 military coup regime with that of the late Robert Mugabe; calling his regime a “new dispensation”, “Second Republic”, etc. The Zanu PF dictatorship has remained untouched or be it under new management.
Mnangagwa promised “zero tolerance on corruption” and yet two years since the coup and he has yet to arrest one Marange diamond looter. “Corruption is deeply rooted,” he admitted.
He also promised free, fair and credible elections but, again, failed to deliver. But above all else, by blatantly rigging the elections he confirmed that Zimbabwe was still a pariah state.
The Zimbabwe economy is in total meltdown because for the country has been starved of any meaningful investment for the last two decades. Investors do not do business in a pariah state.
Cure Zimbabwe’s pariah state curse and investors and investment will flood back into the country. And the pariah state cure is for the vote rigging Zanu PF regime to step down to allow the appointment of an interim administration that will be tasked to implement reforms and deliver free, fair and credible elections.
As long as Zimbabwe remains a pariah state ruled by vote rigging thugs the economic meltdown will get worse; the 14:1 Z$ to US$ exchange rate will get a lot worse smart Alec’s pride and joy, will get a lot worse; etc.
When President Mnangagwa staged his November 2017 putsch and launched his “Zimbabwe is open for business!” complete with the multi-coloured trademark scarf; there was not a single grain of doubt in his Sahara desert expense mind that the economic boom that was to follow. Zimbabwe’s economic meltdown has got a lot worse than it was in 20017; it must be every hard for him to admit this.
By burying his head in the sand and pretending he is smarter than he is; deluding himself that he can still deliver economic recovery and still keep the pariah state; Mnangagwa is digging the nation into deeper and deeper trouble. Zimbabwe’s worsening economic meltdown is not only resulting in currency instability but the very survival of this nation is now at stake.
It is said of the Greek Philosopher, Socrates, that he admitted t being the wisest man in Athens but only because he alone was prepared to admit his own ignorance rather than pretend to know something he did not.
Zimbabwe’s worst curse is to be stuck for 39 years and counting with smart-Alec leaders who will not admit they have failed even in the face of a mountain of evidence of their failures!
By A Correspondent- The ruling ZANU PF party has been angered by the opposition MDC’s calls to the United Nations (UN) to declare President Emmerson Mnangagwa and his party a terrorist organisation for killing civilians during protests.
In a statement on Monday, Zanu PF spokesperson Simon Khaya Moyo hit back at the MDC, saying the opposition party has declared war on ZANU PF. He said:
The offensive pronouncement by the MDC party as reflected in the so-called independent media, that they intend to submit a petition to the UN during its 74th General Assembly sitting that Mnangagwa and the revolutionary Zanu PF be declared terrorists ‘for the killing of civilians during public protests’ is shameful.
This is a very serious allegation which borders on the declaration of war on Zanu PF and its revered leader.
The security services were found guilty of killing 6 unarmed civilians on 1 August last year by the Kgalema Motlanthe Commission. Though the Commission recommended that those found guilty should be punished, nothing has been done by the authorities.
Again, in January, more than a dozen people were killed after riots broke out across the country following an unprecedented fuel price hike. This was followed by a spate of abductions and torture of doctors, union leaders, comedians and human rights activists.
By A Correspondent- Female students on industrial attachments are reportedly subject to se_xual harassment, the Ministry of Women Affairs, Small and Medium Enterprise Development has noted.
Speaking on the sidelines of the Beijing +25National Validation Workshop Meeting held in the capital yesterday, Deputy Director Human Resources in the Ministry of Youth Sports Arts and Recreation Maureen Dhliwayo said that the current situation is causing the female student to opt for se_xual abuse to benefit money.
“Considering the current situation, things are too expensive for them and when they come to workplaces for attachment, they are being abused to get money.
“Most of these attaches are not being paid and some are getting as little as RTGS100 which ends up having most of them being se_xually harassed but not noticing it,” said Dhliwayo.
She also noted that some of the students were being abused in return for petty favors.
“Some of these students are being abused and se_xually harassed because they are offered lunch by male counterparts.
“When these girls are being harassed, they don’t come forward because they think it’s correct, which is not correct,” she said.
Dhliwayo added that female students on attachment have a mentality that they are above 18 and are now adults but they are putting their lives in danger.
“It’s really difficult and challenging but we are not going to stop talking about it.
“We will keep on encouraging workshops to stop se_xual harassment and the issue of gender based violence,” she said.
She added that they will start working with the Ministry of Women Affairs, Small and Medium Enterprise Development to stop gender violence and se_xual harassment among students on industrial attachment.
By A Correspondent- A 34-year-old man from Zvishavane landed in hot soup after allegedly impreg_nating a minor related to the First Family.
According to the Newsday, Aleck Nyoni from Chief Masunda’s area recently appeared before the courts for impreg_nating a 13-year-old Grade 7 pupil (name withheld to protect her identity).
Nyoni pleaded guilty when he appeared before presiding Magistrate Achy Wochiunga.
In mitigation, the accused told the court that he had not been aware that the complainant was a juvenile as she had features of an adult woman.
He sensationally told the court that he was willing to take the child as his wife.
”The girl’s appearance deceived men as he is all grown up,” said Nyoni.
The court heard that on a date unknown sometime last year, Nyoni met the Juvenile at a river, proposed love and she consented. Over a short space of time, their relationship escalated and reportedly had se_xual interc0urse several times.
The matter only came to light in July after the grandmother discovered that the minor was preg_nant, leading to a report being lodged with the Zvishavane police.
