By Own Correspondent- Finance Minister, Professor Mthuli Ncube, has said that when he got appointed as the Minister of Finance, he thought his job was purely financial and detached from politics. He said that it has however since dawned to him that he had to balance between politics and finance.
Speaking during an interview with the chairman of Alpha Media Holdings, Trevor Ncube, the minister said:
Initially, I thought it’s a finance job. Very quickly, it became a finance-political job and most of the times it’s a political job.
He also said that it was imperative to recognise that finance in government follow politics and certain devices are political.
The Minister added that the manifesto of the party in power has to be in sync with the policies of the finance ministry or vice versa.
He added that sometimes he would implement some projects which sound very political in nature. For him, what matters is that the development initiatives in question address the issues affecting the people.-
By Own Correspondent | In a statement yesterday, the Ministry of Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services said such a violent conduct exhibited by protestors at Chatham House in UK against Foreign Affairs minister SB Moyo “forces the security services to act”.
Said the ministry of Information:
“Government condemns the violent attacks against the delegation by a group of opposition protesters outside Chatham House in London.
It’s tragic that the sceptre of violence during protests, witnessed in Zimbabwe, which forces the security services to act, has reared its ugly head in foreign land, discrediting not the Government, but the hoodlums themselves and embarrassing peace -loving Zimbabweans.”
At a time when hospitals are struggling with drug shortages, the minister of health has written releasing medicines for use at ZANU PF party rallies. FULL TEXT:
Dear Hon. Matemadanda
RE: REQUEST FOR ASSISTANCE IN RESPECT OF THE LUPANE EAST BY-ELECTION CAMPAIGN
Your letter of the 2. July 2019 requesting for medicines for Lupaka, Gomoza, St Pauls, Lake Alice, Lusulu and Lupanda Clinics refers.
I have instructed the Permanent Secretary Dr Mahomva to activate NatPharm to supply the clinics mentioned with medicines.
Regards,
Hon. Dr Obadiah Moyo (MP) MINISTER OF HEALTH AND CHILD CARE
cc. Permanent Secretary for Health and Child Care —-DrA; Mahn Managing Director, NatPharm – Mrs F. N. Sifeku Director Pharmacy Service, – Mrs R. Hove fie'”
By A Correspondent- President Mnangagwa yesterday capped a record 6 977 graduates at the 19th Midlands State University (MSU) graduation ceremony in Gweru.
Of the 6 977, 3 348 were female and 3 629 male.
A total of 989 graduated with Masters degrees and three were awarded Doctor of Philosophy degrees.
In his address, MSU Vice Chancellor Professor Victor Muzvidziwa said the event is by far the largest graduation gathering in the history of MSU.
“Among those graduating today are 100 international students drawn from Namibia, Botswana, Swaziland, South Sudan and Mozambique. This is evidence that we have gradually spread our wings in our internationalisation effort,” he said.
Prof Muzvidziwa said resource constraints remain a challenge but the university continues to explore avenues of increasing income from entrepreneurial activities, especially in agriculture, research and innovation.
He said one of the MSU’s key strategic objectives is to be “a technologically-driven research intensive university and to generate problem-solving innovations for commercialisation and industrialisation”.
The MSU VC said its researchers are committed to cutting-edge research.
“In this vein, our researchers have secured competitive domestic and international research grants. We have a total of 15 active international grant funded research projects. Some of these include, Future Leaders – African Independent Research (FLAIR), Global Challenges Research Fund UK, United Nations Development Programme,
Transparency, Responsiveness, Accountability and Citizen Engagement (TRACE), Open Society Initiative for Southern Africa (OSISA),” he said.
“The awarding of research grants by international agencies to our academics is evidence of their intellectual energy and courage, which we continue to celebrate. In particular, Your Excellency and Chancellor, Dr Gift Mehlana’s work on a grant- funded project has led to his subsequent selection by the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry and the International Younger Chemists’ Network to represent Californium on the Periodic Table of Young Chemists.
This is a strong endorsement of the international impact of our research in applied science. Dr Gift Mehlana’s name will be etched on the periodic table of young chemists for the next 100 years.
I would have wanted to present Dr Mehlana to you Your Excellency today. He is, however, in Europe to receive an award.”
Prof Muzvidziwa said MSU is always seeking to excel in quality research, innovation and technology transfer.-StateMedia
By A Correspondent- Chipinge villagers are having sleepless nights after a pride of lions suspected to have escaped from the Save Conservancy, killed cattle and other livestock.
In Chibuwe and Middle Sabi, the lions reportedly killed 30 cattle.
There are fears that the lions may soon attack humans, especially school-going children.
A villager from Chipinge’s Ward 20, Abort Jeza, told Manica Post that he lost his cattle on Monday.
He said:We have a serious problem of stray lions from the Save Conservancy which are roaming in Chibuwe and Middle Sabi areas. The lions are wreaking havoc in these areas, killing livestock.
We are left with no option on where to graze our cattle. The whole area along the Save River, which encompasses our communal grazing land, has been invaded by lions.
The lions are breeding and their numbers continue swelling. The predators are no longer returning to the game park because they have tasted our cattle, which are easy prey.
He said:
We are living in perpetual fear as some of the villagers have been attacked while looking for their cattle. These lions also draw closer to our homes during the night, killing our goats.
Another villager revealed that over 1 000 domestic animals have been killed by lions since the perimeter fence at the Save Conservancy was vandalised.
The villager urged the government to consider compensating farmers whose livestock was killed by the lions.-ManicaPost
By Sports Correespondent| Zimbabwe has beaten Sri Lanka and on the second day, lost to Australia.
There are several reasons why Zimbabwe lost to Australia at the Netball World Cup on Saturday, but there are a few that cannot be whisked away without mention.
Key of these is: the one of failure to utilise the tall human resources inside the Zim camp. The second one is on the lack of sports shoes, and lack of motivation.
Watching the match with Australia, it was apparent that the opponent’s team was at an advantage due to the factor of height. Australia has several tall, fit players, while Zimbabwe has only one, Joice Takaidza.
But there were several tall Zimbabwean players sitting idle in the bench (3), some clad in thick green suits, meaning that even if called for duty, they would not be ready to play. Why were these left out? This is one question the coach will have to answer.
It is true and established that into Friday, the Zim Gems did not have the appropriate professional shoes for the slippery surface in the Netball Arena at Liverpool.
Later on Friday, they were given £40 each. A professional level Asics pair of shoes costs £79. Following the media coverage by ZimEye, sponsors rushed around late Friday to buy shoes for the girls.
Even then, there was little cooperation from the organisers and two other sponsors, Gibbs Manonga and Suku McKenzie found it difficult to assist on the purchasing of new shoes as players walked away visibly fearing reprisals, punishment, for talking to members of the public, something they said they are barred from doing. For days, relatives have told ZimEye the players have been in deep fear of communicating their plight.
On Wednesday morning the Netball President, Leticia Chipandu said donors concerned about the players’ welfare should “go to hell.” She said this is because she is answerable only to the government of Zimbabwe.
The netball players’ fund is down by $39,000.
While the latest official comment was sought at the time of writing, a staffer with the visiting Zim delegation told ZimEye: “the girls had 4 pairs of brand new shoes bought from Zimbabwe.”
However, the staffer could not confirm that the shoes that the girls had were the recommended ones.
This exposed that none of those shoes are appropriate for the slippery surface of the Echo Arena Netball premises.
Footing experts told ZimEye, for netballers to make it, they need at least the Asics.
By Wednesday evening, at least 3 players had been injured, and sources reveal this was to do with lack of the right shoes. They needed the Asics.
Expert reviews list the Asics as the most affordable among the range of quality shoes for the game. The below ranking by the respected UK Independent paper, put Asics on number 1 for affordability, and number 2 on quality.
The review reads in part: Asics are a great first pair for someone looking to elevate their footwear to enhance their game. The high sides mean these are very comfortable and supportive, especially on ankles, which can be a player’s weak spot. The gel system is based on a special kind of silicon that enables optimal shock absorption, meaning jumping in these trainers is a breeze. The natural bounciness of the sole helps you to feel light on your feet. The extra-ribbed sole provides essential grip, which results in good performance on slippery outdoor courts as well as indoors.
Given the harrowing experiences they went through the Zim Gems should be commended for putting up a strong fight.
Meanwhile, checking on the players on Saturday evening, the situation appeared to have improved. ZimEye will continue to monitor for their welfare.
By A Correspondent- A 13-year-old boy from Bulawayo suspected to have been part of a group of people who looted and burnt shops during the January #ShutDownZim protests said that he was instructed to burn a shop by an elder.
The minor told Bulawayo magistrate Mafios Moyo that his accomplice Bhekani Mpamba (29) ordered him to burn down a supermarket in Old Pumula suburb.
The juvenile pleaded guilty to charges of unlawful entry and theft while Mpanda pleaded not guilty.
Said Mpamba:
I was not there when all this happened, accused 2’s family has issues with me because my donkey’s names are the same as theirs.
Representing the State, Simbarashe Manyiwa said on January 14, the duo together with other co-accused persons who are still at large went to a supermarket owned by Antony Chikwata in Old Pumula at around 10 PM armed with stones;
The mob threw stones at people and broke into the shop. They took groceries and stationery before setting the shop on fire. When police officers arrived at the scene, the boy fled but was seen by one of the residents who made a report at Pumula Police Station.
The minor was remanded out of custody while Mpamba was remanded in custody to July 24 for the continuation of trial.-StateMedia
By A Correspondent- The Zimbabwe Energy Regulatory Authority (ZERA) on Friday announced new prices for diesel and petrol.
However, some service stations had already hiked the price of fuel by more than 100 per cent, with some charging as high as ZWL$12 per litre.
According to ZERA, the maximum pump price of diesel is now ZWL$5.84 while that of Blend E20 is now ZWL$6.10 per litre.
By Own Correspondent- A Zimbabwe National Army (ZNA) officer was gored to death by a hippopotamus while on patrol on the banks of the Limpopo River on Friday.
The soldier was identified as Pelious Moyo from Tongwe. He was declared on arrival at Beitbridge District Hospital.
The Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP) confirmed the serviceman’s passing away.
National police spokesperson Assistant Commissioner Paul Nyathi said:
We confirm the unfortunate death of the member (of the ZNA) who was on patrol at the time of the attack. Police are investigating the circumstances.
Moyo was part of soldiers stationed at a checkpoint between Zimbabwe and South Africa.
Reports indicate that he was attacked at dawn as the animal was headed to the river from grazing.-Newsday
The MDC notes with serious concern the developments within Bulawayo City Council where the Town Clerk has been suspended.
The MDC believes in Constitutionalism, due process, the rule of law and zero tolerance to corruption. The party leadership has directed that the status quo ante be upheld, in other words that the town clerk be reinstated pending a full investigation into the allegations being raised against him.
The MDC prioritises service delivery to the people and the directive the party has given is meant to ensure that the council continues offer prudent services to the ratepayers.
However, in line with the party’s directive, the allegations leveled against the Town Clerk must be fully investigated within the confines of due process, constitutionalism and fair hearing.
Hon. Daniel Molokele
National Spokesperson
Movement for Democratic Change
By A Correspondent- A Mutare man escaped death by a whisker but sustained severe burns on his face and both arms after a container of petrol he was holding caught fire.
Tatenda Maorera (19) of Munyarari Village, 22 Miles under Chief Zimunya in Mutare district is admitted at Mutare Provincial Hospital following the incident.
Maorera told the Weekender that everything happened so suddenly that is not sure how the fire started.
He said:
It all happened when I wanted to go and buy a birthday present for my child. I decided to take 10 litres of petrol from the 20 litres that I was keeping in my house.
As you are aware, we are having fuel challenges so I was keeping the 20 litres for emergencies.
As I was emptying the 20-litre container, I suddenly saw myself in a ball of fire.
I sustained injuries on both my arms as well as the face. It is painful and I just hope I will be fine soon.
Maorera said that the accident was not a result of domestic violence.
He said:
My wife was very helpful when it happened. She was not the one who caused the fire. I am not sure how the petrol ignited but I am sure that she is not the one to blame.
In fact, she is the one who is assisting me since the day this happened. I know people talk a lot after such incidents but it is very much unfair to say my wife is to blame.-Manica
Dear editor,
By Wezhira Munya
Voting has ended at 7pm in Bikita East. Counting is in progress.
Results will be announced after voting counting at Mandadzaka Command Centre.
ZEC official Alex Mashavave said:
“One political party was intimidating supporters of another.”
Facebook is set to be fined a record US $5 billion in the United States following an ongoing investigation over bad privacy practices.
The country’s Federal Trade Commission (FTC) voted 3:2 to approve a $5 billion settlement with Facebook to end the investigations into the companys privacy practices. The amount is the largest penalty ever assessed against a tech company that broke a past promise to the government to improve its privacy practices.
Follow the approval vote, the matter will go to the US Department of Justice to finalise the settlements. There is a possibility of the fine being rejected but this has reportedly rarely happened.
Said a former director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection:
It’s quite a substantial amount of money, and it sets a baseline [for] the Googles and Microsofts and Apples and the Twitters of the world.
Matt Stoller, a fellow at the Open Markets Institute who specializes in monopoly power said the fine is not significant at all and the equivalent of a parking ticket to the social media giant:
This isn’t a fine, it’s a favor to Facebook, a parking ticket which will clear them to conduct more illegal and invasive surveillance. Congress should start defunding the FTC and move the money to state enforcers like Karl Racine who believe in enforcing the law.
The news sent the company’s share price jumping more than 1%. Facebook had more than $15B in revenue in the first three months of 2019.-Washington Post, Guardian
By Own Correspondent- Opposition MDC leader Nelson Chamisa has warned that the country faces a bleak future, which could end in turmoil if the current economic crisis characterised by biting shortages of fuel, electricity and basics such as bread and water is not urgently addressed.
Said Chamisa:
“The resolution of this crisis, more than ever before, has become a matter of extreme urgency and emergency. It’s clear that soft-landing the crisis has to be done by creating a Zimbabwe that we want to avert this impending and inevitable implosion,” he said.
“I have no doubt in my mind that Zimbabwe is heading for a disaster. It’s facing an abyss. A dark cloud hangs over this nation, but to avoid this implosion, we must take bold steps that will avoid the catastrophe that we are going to face.”
The MDC is calling upon the church, war veterans and other non-political players to join in the move to pile pressure on President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s government to act.”We must build political and diplomatic pressure on this administration to realise the need for peaceful change,” Chamisa said.
“To assure ourselves that our victory is secured, we believe in non-violent democratic action for peaceful change. We will be radically peaceful in terms of the Constitution. Let this be a collective action, it can’t be an MDC issue. There is need to escalate the Zimbabwean crisis so that it becomes an international crisis and build a global solidarity network.”
Chamisa said while the MDC would not take up arms to forcibly remove Mnangagwa’s government, it was important to create a platform that solved the problems of the country without loss of life.
Zanu-PF national political commissar Victor Matemadanda has warned would-be protesters that the army will be readily deployed to quell any political unrest, saying if that happens; the use of maximum force should be expected.
Addressing a Zanu-PF Provincial Coordinating Committee (PCC) meeting in Masvingo recently, Matemadanda, who is also Defence and War Veterans deputy minister, said government would not be intimidated by violent demonstrations.
“You can play with the police but not with the army. The police get trained to use minimum force but in the military, it is a completely different story. The army is trained to use deadly force whenever it gets deployed.
“I am not threatening anyone but all I am saying is let us work to build our country and not destroy it. Regular protests are dealt with by the police who will pick you up and throw you into a car when you misbehave – that is child’s play – but when you start destroying property, the army is constitutionally mandated to step in,” said Matemadanda.
Matemadanda said he was surprised that people tried to make an issue of who deployed the army in times of trouble like the August 01, 2018 demonstrations which saw six people being shot dead and 35 more being injured in Harare.
“We hear people asking about who deployed the army but the answer is right in the country’s constitution. The army is mandated to step in to help the police when they are overwhelmed and from that moment, it will be deadly force. So I am warning people to desist from engaging in violent protests because violent protests will be dealt with violently.
“We had been complaining of potholes on our roads for a long time. Now when those roads are being fixed, someone comes with a tyre and burns it to create new potholes. Do you then expect us to fold our hands and do nothing?
“We have faced bigger threats before and many people paid the ultimate price and we are here today because of that,” Matemadanda said.
He said it was high time President Mnangagwa stopped being a listening President and started ‘biting’.
“President Mnangagwa is a listening President but people have abused that. He should stop listening and start biting. I was angered by one Mkwananzi (Tajamuka/Sesjikile leader Promise Mkwananzi) who said there would be a blood bath in Harare yet he is in South Africa, what a coward. Whose blood is he talking about? Whose child’s blood? He should come here and lead from the front and not mislead people into harm’s way while he remains safe in South Africa. When we said ‘It Can’t’, we did not go out of the country. We were here and we even forgot that we had passports,” said Matemadanda, referring to his campaign of defiance against former president Robert Mugabe’s alleged plans to set up his wife Grace as his successor.
Matemadanda warned that Zanu-PF will never surrender power to ‘people who burn tyres on the streets’, saying that would disappoint even the dead party cadres who fought in the liberation struggle.
“If the heavens were to open up one day and our departed comrades like Hebert Chitepo asked us what became of the country they fought for, and we told them that the country was taken from us by people who burnt tyres…ahhh,” said Matemadanda to loud applause.
Earlier on, Zanu-PF secretary for security in the politburo, Lovemore Matuke had given a summary of his department’s national outreach work, warning that the party will not allow ‘shutdowns’.
“We have been going around the country briefing the people on government programmes. We are asking the people to accept the new Zimbabwe dollar introduced by government and not engage in misguided shutdowns. We will not sit around and let provocateurs mobilise our people for shutdowns,” said Matuke, who is also Labour and Social Welfare deputy minister.
President Mnangagwa has set September 7 as the day for National Assembly by-elections in Mangwe, Matabeleland South and Glen View South in Harare that fell vacant following the deaths of Obedingwa Mguni of Zanu-PF and MDC-Alliance’s Vimbai Tsvangirai Java, respectively.
The proclamations were published in yesterday’s Government Gazette.
The President made the proclamations in accordance with Section 39 (2) of the Electoral Act. “The Speaker of Parliament notified me on 24th June, 2019 in writing of a vacancy which has arisen by reason of the death of Honourable Obedingwa Mguni on 1 8th June, 2019 who was elected member of the National Assembly for Mangwe Constituency.
“Now therefore, under and by virtue of the powers vested in the President as aforesaid, I do, by this proclamation (a) order a new election for the constituency of Mangwe (b) fix Friday the 26th July 2019, as the date on which the nomination court shall sit, commencing at 10 o’clock in the morning at Magistrates’ Court, Fifth Avenue Gwanda for the purpose of receiving nomination of candidates for election as a member of the National Assembly constituency for Mangwe and (c) fix Saturday the 7th of September 2019, as the day on which a poll shall be taken if a poll becomes necessary in terms of Section 46 (17) (c) of the Electoral Act,” the said in the proclamation.
For Glen View South, the nomination court will sit at Magistrates Court at Rotten Row on July 26 at 10am. Mguni collapsed at Parliament and was pronounced dead at West End hospital following diabetes-related complications. Mrs Tsvangirai Java died from injuries she sustained in an accident just outside Kwekwe in May on her way from Bulawayo.
SOUTH AFRICA-based Advocate Sheillah Kanyangarara has criticised the Judicial Service Commission (JSC) for burdening aspiring High Court judges with a written examination before participating in public interviews.
Sixteen nominees were selected for the public interviews after passing closed-door examinations which involved the writing of a judgment. The public interviews took place on Monday and Tuesday. There were 43 nominees short-listed to undergo the public interviews in terms of the country’s Constitution.
However, the bulk of the aspiring judges could not break the first hurdle of closed-door examinations, which Adv Kanyangarara said were not part of the Constitution.
Those who failed the written examinations were allowed to exercise their constitutional right to participate in the public interviews.
Adv Kanyangarara and Zvishavane-based lawyer Mr Tichaona Chivasa, who both failed the pre-test, chose to exercise their rights to participate in the public interviews and appeared before the nine-member JSC panel.
When her turn to face the panel came, Adv Kanyangarara raised her concern over the manner in which the JSC had allegedly breached Constitutional provisions.
After Chief Justice Luke Malaba reminded her that she did not perform well in the first stage of the interviews by the JSC, Adv Kanyangarara said the process was not constitutional.
“We keep the results confidential unless you want this commission to disclose to you here or in the course of the interview what you scored, otherwise we keep the result confidential,” said Chief Justice Malaba.
Adv Kanyangarara said she had earlier approached the JSC seeking reasons for judgment and her transcript, but was told it was the property of JSC. She told the commission that judges are supposed to be public and for her to be told of her score during the interviews was tantamount to embarrassment and grossly unfair, wrong and unjust.
Adv Kanyangarara said she made a decision to come before the panel to raise concern at the lack of transparency in the way the examination was conducted.
Here are the results of the Castle Lager PSL matches played Saturday, 13 July 2019:
Newsday|Mutare Magistrate Court should be given the thumbs up and heartily congratulated for fast-tracking the trial and sentencing of one maid who stole US$25 000 from Information minister Monica Mutsvangwa.
We just hope that magistrate Nortilda Muchineripi was not under any undue pressure to fast-track the case because there are so many serious cases that are taking forever to just get a trial date. Many people are languishing in remand prison or out on bail as their cases take ages to be concluded.
While the court has done its bit to bag this case, we wish to awaken the Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission (Zacc) on this US$25 000 that most likely tempted the poor maid to help
herself to it. The owner of that money was, of course, not the minister Mutsvangwa, but her relative. Our curiosity on this money arises from the fact that the owner of the money is not
employed and is this, by any chance, not a starting point for Zacc to sniff around under its “explain your wealth” mantra.
Can the owner of this money convincingly explain to Zacc how she happened to raise all that money when we understand that she is actually unemployed? We are sure it is perfectly in
order for someone to be curious. We are pretty certain that, under the country’s supreme law, it’s not a crime to be curious, or even to suspect someone of something.
What emboldens us most to boldly raise our concern over this US$25 000 is what Zacc chairperson, Justice Loice Matanda-Moyo has been telling us ever since she took over the reins of
this very critical institution mandated to fight corruption in all its forms and guises.
She has said: “The courts on their own will not be able to root out and stem corrupt activities without active public participation. It is everyone’s duty to resist and report
corruption whenever and wherever encountered. This is because corruption is so endemic that it now exists at every level of human endeavour… The challenge, therefore, today not only us, but to each player, is that justice must not only be done, but must be seen to be done. From the highest office to the lowest citizen, Zimbabwe is thirsty for justice in corruption-
related matters. Integrity has to be a culture if we are to win the war against this vice…I can confirm that the economic challenges being experienced in this country are mainly as a
result of corruption. Once we join hands in fighting corruption, we will win and our economic challenges will disappear,”
So we are sure it should be okay to ask Zacc to investigate this US$25 000 issue, just to clear the air, specifically to find out how this unemployed lady managed to raise all this
money in a country that is failing to raise enough to import key essentials for its hospitals. After all, someone is innocent until proven guilty. We are merely pointing out to Zacc an instance where it can sharpen its investigation skills. They are being paid to investigate, aren’t they?
Social media has been trending with the latest images showing Foreign affairs and international trade minister SB Moto on his current European tour. The minister is trying to get support for the country’s ailing economy.
Amongst his travels the minister had occasion to meet up with Zimbabwean entrepreneur William Sachiti, who is based in the U.K. Sachiti has an impressive c.v and at only 34, he has won several top awards in science and technology. Sachiti serenaded the minister at his stand and showed him how is own invention, the first ever self driving delivery car.
The minister was amazed at the technological breakthrough, worse still,by someone from back home. Sachiti relocated to the U.K at the age of 16. The driverless cars is called the Kar-go. It basically is able to drive itself to anyone’s doorstep if they make an order.
Sachiti is one of the young minds from Zimbabwe who have managed to penetrate the global tech market and impress.He assured the minister that he was still committed to his country and had already carried out studies on what he could do in Zimbabwe.
Sachiti started off his business ambitions at a tender age of 19. He appeared on the BBC investment programme Dragon’s den for his project on solar bins. He did not get the 65 000he was asking for.
The young dreamer did not give up. He founded a digital holiday platform called mycity venue in 2013. It received more than 1.6 million users and he decided to sell it to U.K holiday company secret escapes.
Sachiti went on to study Artificial intelligence in Wales prompting him to invent a librarian robot and subsequently the Kar-Go. Sachiti has a list of awards including the Zim Achievers Award in business innovation in 2013, the Aberystwyth InvEnter price cargo in2017 and the Top 35 under 35 entrepreneurs in Wales in 2017. He is married to an Italian wife.
There was drama at Charge Office rank in Harare when a man claiming to be a member of the Central Intelligence Organization (CIO) refused to pay $3 kombi fare saying he was on duty and had been sent to board that kombi for security reasons.
He was unfazed despite numerous efforts by touts and conductors threatening to beat him up.
He claimed that President Mnangagwa had planted him in the commuter omnibus to monitor security.
A conductor who plies Chitungwiza route only identified as Tino said this was not the first incident the man had done this.
Said Tino:
“In fact it is now more of a lifestyle rather than a habit.
I ferried him last month and he made similar claims refusing to pay bus fare claiming to being a CIO member. I later let him go as l suspected him to have been under the influence of drugs.”
However, the “CIO” was taken to the police station by infuriated touts who wanted justice.-ZIMUCU
Following an attack on Foreign Affairs Minister, Sibusiso B Moyo, the government released a statement condemning the violence. We present the statement in full text below.
The Zimbabwean delegation to the Global Conference for Media Freedom in London had great engagements with different stakeholders.
Government condemns the violent attacks against the delegation by a group of opposition protesters outside Chatham House in London. It is tragic that the sceptre of violence during protests, witnessed in Zimbabwe, which forces the security services to act, has reared its ugly head in foreign land, discrediting not the Government, but the hoodlums themselves and embarrassing peace loving Zimbabweans.
The attacks have not, however, disrupted Minister S.B. Moyo’s successful engagements in the UK in any way. Undeterred, his programme continued with fruitful meetings with the Secretary General of the Commonwealth and investors. The programme ends tonight with engagements with a progressive Zimbabwean Diaspora and other key stakeholders, whose support for Zimbabwe’s economic and political reform efforts remains steadfast.
The Government of Zimbabwe remains committed to peaceful dialogue with all parties, with a view to building the country around shared values, including the principles of respectful disagreement and non-violence. Government affirms the right of Zimbabweans to protest, but to do so peacefully.
Zimbabwe
OPPOSITION LEAD president Linda Masarira got her son, Kudakwashe Mhlanga (19), arrested by the police for allegedly stealing her mobile phone, a charger and headphones worth $650.
According to the charge sheet, on July 3 this year, Masarira and her husband left home for a driving licence road-test drive and left Mhlanga at home.
It is alleged that when Masarira returned home, she did not see Mhlanga.
She also failed to locate her phone.
She filed a report at Marlborough Police Station and later found her son at Greencroft Shopping Centre.
Mhlanga allegedly tried to escape, but was caught and taken to Marlborough Police Station.
The police officers then searched him and found the stolen properties on his person.
AN explosive indaba is expected at the Highlanders club house tomorrow when the fading Bulawayo giants’ members meet for an annual mid-year review meeting.
Members will demand honest answers on what really caused the industrial action that saw players deserting pre-season camp in the hills of Matobo.
The pre-season strike saw Highlanders kicking off badly, with unwanted results despite entertaining performances.
With 13 matches played, Bosso find themselves just above the relegation bracket with a mere 15 points and a paltry seven goals to their credit, presenting one of their worst starts to a season in living memory.
There is also still the hot issue of the suspension of vice-chairman Modern Ngwenya and secretary-general Israel Moyo from holding any leadership position at the club for two years.
Tomorrow, the Bosso board chaired by Luke Mnkandla comes face to face with members who will demand answers and tempers are likely to flare.
The other issue involves chairman Kenneth Mhlophe’s attempt to take his son as one of the three Highlanders’ supporters to cheer the Warriors at the Africa Cup of Nations tournament.
Mhlophe withdrew from the trip after being lampooned on social media for allegedly abusing his position to favour his son.
The Bosso chairman told our sister paper Sunday News recently that he decided not to proceed to Egypt because his son, whom he said is a Highlanders’ life member, was distressed by the hullabaloo created on social media. He said he was paying for his son’s travel, contrary to reports on social media.
Mhlophe’s decision to abort the trip deprived Bosso of potential synergies and twinning possibilities with well-established clubs in Africa and beyond.
Also set to be discussed tomorrow is the issue of the club’s junior coaches who are reported to be unhappy with their conditions of service which saw Gift Lunga Jnr packing his bags, while Bosso 90 coach Melusi ‘Mabaleka’ Sibanda is also on the verge of turning his back on the club. Siza Khoza is also reportedly on his way out and has been linked with Mainline from Plumtree.
FORMER Zifa vice-president Omega Sibanda has described as clownish claims by Zifa that he was part of disgruntled former executive committee members that contributed to the Warriors’ embarrassing Africa Cup of Nations campaign in Egypt.
Zifa president Felton Kamambo made the sensational claims on Wednesday and also named his predecessor Phillip Chiyangwa and journalist Hope Chizuzu as some of the people that were responsible for the toxic environment in the Warriors’ camp in Egypt that saw players revolting now and again over allowances.
“I don’t give credence to such clownish comments which come from people who know what they were expected to do before and during the tournament. I am a complete football administrator, I know football statutes in and out,” said Sibanda yesterday.
He said he will comment comprehensively after the Sports and Recreation Commission’s inquiry, as doing so now might jeopardise the commission’s work.
“I will give you a full answer to these frivolous and clearly litigious allegations of how I feel after our reputable SRC has exhausted its inquiry,” said Sibanda.
Zifa has written to Cosafa informing it of its decision to recall Chiyangwa from the presidency of the regional football body over a litany of charges.
The association also slapped executive committee member Chamu Chiwanza with an indefinite suspension over a number of allegations, including influencing the Warriors’ Afcon games.
Chiwanza is also being accused of presenting fake credentials in the run-up to the 2018 Zifa executive committee elections in which he claimed to have the requisite five years football experience as prescribed in article 32 (4) of the Zifa constitution.
He is also alleged to have leaked confidential, exaggerated and inaccurate information to the public, including to some social media bloggers.
Suspended Zimbabwe Football Association (ZIFA) committee member Chamu Chiwanza has promised to expose what he labelled as ‘theft’ at the country’s football governing body following his suspension on allegations of sabotage at AFCON 2019.
Chiwanza is part of the individuals, whom ZIFA accuse of sabotaging them by destabilising the Warriors at the continental showpiece, together with former president Philip Chiyangwa.
He (Chiwanza) however insists that he will reveal how exactly funds at ZIFA were handled.
“I am going to respond at the right time, but what I can promise now is that when I respond (to the ZIFA allegations), I will bring the temple down on their heads,” Chiwanza told NewsDay Sport.
“It’s coming very soon. Thieves will be exposed. People will see who the real thieves are. It’s going to be big; it’s going to be biblical.” he added.
Zimbabwe’s Foreign Minister SB Moyo has responded following reports of him being humiliated outside London’s Chatham House thinktank premises yesterday.
Writing on Sunday, SB Moyo said, “
Resulting from numerous inquiries from those who love Zimbabwe, I am glad to report that I am safe and sound, my security is guaranteed!
Asante Sana ??”
To this Prof Jonathan Moyo replied saying, “Ok. Your security is guaranteed & protected from heckling & sprinkles of bottled water. How about the security of Zimbabweans? Is it also guaranteed. Are they protected from cold-blooded murder in the streets, torture & rape in their homes by #ZDF soldiers deployed by Mnangagwa?”
There was drama at Charge Office rank in Harare when a man claiming to be a member of the Central Intelligence Organization (CIO) refused to pay $3 kombi fare saying he was on duty and had been sent to board that kombi for security reasons.
He was unfazed despite numerous efforts by touts and conductors threatening to beat him up.
He claimed that President Mnangagwa had planted him in the commuter omnibus to monitor security.
A conductor who plies Chitungwiza route only identified as Tino said this was not the first incident the man had done this.
Said Tino:
“In fact it is now more of a lifestyle rather than a habit.
I ferried him last month and he made similar claims refusing to pay bus fare claiming to being a CIO member. I later let him go as l suspected him to have been under the influence of drugs.”
However, the “CIO” was taken to the police station by infuriated touts who wanted justice.
An ex-footballer’s wife lost half of her ear and sustained a deep gush on her forehead during a bar brawl in Mzilikazi suburb in an alleged altercation over money and beer.
The place — Sizalabo Sports Bar — where the incident took place is known for periodic bar brawls and other unacceptable public behaviour.
Nomqhele Mguni, a 32-year-old woman married to one of the famous Ngodzo brothers — Petros — will live with a permanent reminder of a scarred left ear as a result of a savage attack by a 26-year-old man, Nkosinomusa Ndlovu last Saturday.
Ngodzo is a product of Mzilikazi High School and played for the Highlanders juniors and Chapungu.
Ndlovu and Mguni are said to have met at Sizalabo Sports Bar while imbibing last Saturday night and Ndlovu allegedly demanded his money from the married woman.
He allegedly proceeded to make unwanted sexual advances on Mguni in addition to grabbing her buttocks.
“On the day in question I was drinking beer at Sizalabo Sports Bar.
It was around midnight and the bar was about to close when Nkosinomusa confronted me and started accusing me of owing him some money.
“I told him to stop pestering me and in a fit of rage he struck me with an empty beer bottle on the forehead resulting in me falling down,” said a dejected Mguni.
She said when she was still lying helplessly Nkosinomusa went on to bite off part of her left ear.
The missing part was reportedly discovered the following day by a local man, McBath Scott, who is employed to clean shops next to the bar. Scott said he picked up a piece of the ear a few metres outside the drinking spot the following day.
“The guy (Ndlovu) must have bitten off the ear and spit it out outside the bar but it was in a bad state to be stitched back on her.
He is a quiet guy that I have known for a long time and I don’t know what got over him to attack a woman like that,” said Scott.
Scott added that if it wasn’t for other bar patrons who restrained Ndlovu from hitting Mguni with a metal bar, she could have sustained serious injuries from the assault.
B-Metro tracked down Ndlovu to his Mzilikazi home in Section U.
He blamed his actions on alcohol but also insisted that Mguni owed him money and must pay back.
“Yinto zotshwala mfowethu kodwa mina ngifuna imali yami nje (I blame alcohol but she must pay back my money,” said Ndlovu.
He, however, declined to state if the money owed to him by Mguni was a loan or not.
Meanwhile, Ndlovu who is now facing an assault charge was arraigned before Bulawayo magistrate Franklin
Mkhwananzi on Tuesday. He was, however, not asked to plead and was remanded out of custody to 17 July.-B Metro
According to an eye witness;
“Raging fire by the auction houses and garages along Seke Rd, close to AB Auctioneers. Fire has spread to one of the garages and cars are burning.”
Folks running around with buckets while others are pushing the cars out of the garages
There was drama in New Magwegwe suburb when a jealous woman left residents shocked after she assaulted her ex-lover’s wife with an electric cable.
Briana Sibanda is reportedly angry about her ex-lover Jonathan Dhonsa’s new relationship with Queen Lindumisa Dube so she has resorted to making the couple’s relationship hell.
It is reported that soon after Sibanda found out that Dhonsa had moved on and married Dube she has been in the habit of insulting Dube every time they cross paths.
According to sources close to the issue what sparks Sibanda’s anger is that Dube was her neighbour and she would often see her with her Dhonsa.
“Sibanda is angry because she believes Dube was strategising on how to snatch her man.
After having slight quarrels with Dhonsa, he shocked Sibanda when he dumped her and revealed that he was now in love with Dube,” said a source who spoke on condition of anonymity.
Quarrels between the two women escalated to the extent that Sibanda ended up assaulting Dube.
It has been gathered that when Dube was assaulted by Sibanda with an electric wire she resorted to seeking justice at the courts.
“I am applying for a protection order against Sibanda who assaulted me with an electric cable because I was having an affair with her former boyfriend Dhonsa who is currently my husband.
Her behaviour has been very traumatising because she also insults me every time she sees me and I am four months pregnant,” said Dube.
When asked if she had committed the offence Sibanda pleaded guilty.
In his ruling Western Commonage magistrate Urgent Vundla ordered Sibanda to refrain from assaulting and insulting Dube.-B Metro
Harare City Council workers have declared a deadlock with their employer over a cost of living adjustment in the wake of recent spates of price hikes.
Minutes of the joint finance and human resources committees approved last week reveal that talks by the two sides reached a deadlock, with the matter now before an arbitrator.
Council had offered workers a 5% increment on top of the 2,5% arbitral award they won for a pay rise beginning January 2019.
“The 2018 collective bargaining agreement and the 2019 hardship allowances were both before the arbitrator, following deadlocks on both sides. The acting human capital director (Mathew Marara) also highlighted that council had a backlog of the collective bargaining agreement negotiation increment of 2,5% for the year 2017, which would be effected from March 2019 and backdated to January 1, 2019,” the minutes read.
Council owes its workers salaries backdated to February 2019 and this has been attributed to declining revenue collection.
“This has been necessitated by the recent rise in the general cost of living in the country. Council, however, was also incapacitated because of budgetary
constraints,” read the minutes.
After a lengthy debate, council tasked its representative to the works council to engage the workers for the 5% offer, while new revenue streams were being exploited.
The bid for a salary hike comes as service delivery has dwindled and revenue collection is at its lowest ebb due to the negative economic phase the country is passing through.
-Newsday
By Blessing Vava| The November 2017 military coup which forced tyrant Robert Mugabe from power is still haunting Zimbabwe almost 18 months down the line. The remnants of the coup and its footprints will not disappear sooner than we expected.
After topping Mugabe, Mnangagwa had an enormous task facing him trying to please his erstwhile conspirators by appointing them into the cabinet. He also attempted to cure the coup and legitimise his power through the elections.
With almost 18 months after the coup, Zimbabwe has been faced with political and economic instability and the country is literally seating on a knife-edge. It seems the cart is slowly wheeling off towards the cliff, thus signalling a not so good-looking future.
While there have been arguments that the coup managed to address ZANU PF internal political contradictions at the time, the passage of time has disproved that thesis.
Already, the ugly head of factionalism is rearing its head and the statements of the ZANU PF Youth and Women’s league are the tell-tale signs. Already, the ground is becoming fertile for another ruction and begs again if this would not be from the barracks. But the real question would be from which section of the Barrack
ED’s Missed Opportunities
Mnangagwa has missed opportunities to “cure the coup”, particularly the failure to create stable transitional mechanisms. Mnangagwa and his co-conspirators unwittingly attempted to “cure” the coup through a manipulated “election” and this strategy have backfired and the sooner they come to terms with reality the better.
Unbeknown to Mnangagwa was that the ball was in his court and he had many options to redeem himself as a unifying leader. However, his lack of foresight has exposed him as a greedy person with no strategy of moving Zimbabwe forward.
One of the simplest and many options available to him at the time was calling for a genuine national dialogue of all stakeholders, not for the purposes of power-sharing but rather to chat the way forward for Zimbabwe towards political and economic reforms to address the 37-year rot created by Mugabe.
This kind of dialogue would have come out with clear timelines on fundamental reforms at the same time as one of the main steps in curing the coup. It would have also helped to cool down the political temperatures and depolarise our politics. However, that did not happen, as Mnangagwa became consumed and intoxicated by power, allegedly building his power around a partisan and parochial tribal agenda.
Mnangagwa has been busy focussing on consolidating his power at the expense of building a nation, forgetting Lord Acton’s warning: “Power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely”.
A Regime in Fear
The unfortunate and terror events of 1st of August 2018 and 14th-16th of January 2019 exposed the true colours of the Mnangagwa administration. It became apparent that the military is the underwriter and as such when their power was threatened, they resorted to their real character: violence; murder and impunity.
Their actions since November 2017 typifies of a lot that is living in fear, the fear not from the opposition but amongst themselves and particularly the men in uniform.
The fact that they are constantly reshuffling the command within the security forces is a testament to the heightening levels of insecurity. More so, the alleged reports indicating that the government gave soldiers RTGS$400 cushioning allowances versus RTGS$97 allocated to the rest of civil servants indicates a divide and rule strategy that seeks to pacify the army.
The reasoning is all apparent to everyone: buying loyalty of the gun as a hungry soldier cannot be trusted. But the question is whether the strategy is sustainable in the long run.
The Achilles’ Heel of Coups
The coup plotters justified their action of overthrowing President Mugabe’s government in November 2017 being necessitated by the need to address the economic and political crisis facing the country then. However, fast forward to Mid-2019, the situation has moved to another new level as workers’ and ordinary citizens’ earnings, pensions and savings have been eroded and withered by inflation and currency devaluation.
The worsening economic conditions will most likely lead us to squabble within the cockpit as opportunities for arbitrage decline, thus creating ripe conditions for another coup. McBride and Coulier in their 2004 paper “Crises, Coups, and Entry-deterring Reforms in Sub-Saharan Africa’’, in their analysis of coups in Africa advance reasons that generally lead to military intervention: personal greed; hope to extract once they gain power or directly control the state.
This fits well in our case, as military chiefs have now become an economic class with its own distinct interests. A reading of Jabusile Shumba’s book “Zimbabwe’s Predatory State: Party, Military, Business” and Richard Saunders and Tinashe Nyamunda’s book “Facets of Power: Politics, Profits and People in the Making of Zimbabwe’s Blood Diamonds” give a some glimpses and insights on how this military business class has become embedded in the economy.
Therefore, it is not without doubt that the coup was a ‘military class project’ with a personal accumulation thrust. The soldiers are now openly and actively involved in the control of the country’s mines, and other strategic points of economic interest.
The military assisted transition in Zimbabwe seems to have failed to bring any meaningful change in people’s livelihoods and this is not unique, and Decaldo argues in his 1986, ‘African Studies and Military coups in Africa’ that, “the military has not been able to generate economic development”.
The military assisted transitions always come on the backdrop of well-meaning rhetoric but always fall short on action. It is fast becoming clear for everyone that apart from personal accumulation and self-enrichment, the current administration is as clueless in so far as economic development is concerned.
For instance, the sucking in of the Minister of State Security in the Gaika Mine in Kwekwe despite a standing court order barring the mine invaders point to a bleak economic future. The recent ambush and guerilla-style re-introduction of the Zimbabwe Dollar and the banning of the multi-currency regime are alleged to have been done as a strategy to pacify the men and women in uniform who had started to demand being paid in American dollars to cushion them against dollarisation.
The drastic measures on currency reforms have been described by the Zimbabwe Coalition on Debt Development (ZIMCODD) as policy inconsistencies and premature reaction on the part of the government. In their statement, ZIMCODD said instead there was a need for addressing the root cause of the current currency crisis which is, “rampant corruption, mismanagement of public finances and impunity being enjoyed by those that are fuelling the crisis through arbitrage and resource bleeding.’’
Dealing with corruption and arbitrage means taking the feeding trough away from the wannabe military capitalists and creating ructions in the cockpit; yet, not doing so, means ripening the polity for revolt.
Hence, I argue that without proper reforms and a different way of doing things Zimbabwe is destined for another military coup, but this time not from the top brass but the junior ranks. There is a need for inclusivity and genuine dialogue of all stakeholders, with the genesis of all being to address the political reform agenda to boost confidence in the economy. Political reforms are essentially the roadmap to curing the coup and any short cut will have disastrous consequences.
There is a dark cloud of uncertainty and fear not only amongst Zimbabweans but largely amongst those who plotted the coup, no one really knows what tomorrow is in store for them. The economic meltdown is in itself a ticking time bomb that when it explodes the whole country will be burnt.
Historically, coups in their very nature do not just end without another one occurring if their initial fundamental causes are not addressed. The economy remains the Achilles’ heel, and it will just take one daring junior officer and the rest can be history.
Forewarned is Forearmed!
It is clear that the current trajectory by the Mnangagwa administration in dealing with the political and economic crisis facing the country will most likely lead us to another ‘military assisted transition’. The conditions that led to the November 2017 coup seem to be multiplying exponentially as each day passes and this is creating a ticking time bomb.
If things are left unresolved one may not rule out another coup happening as history has shown us that if coups are not cured, they are bound to happen again. There is a need to cure the coup by embarking on drastic and genuine political and economic reforms that will enable the economy to be on its feet again.
Blessing Vava is a blogger based in Chipinge. He can be contacted on [email protected]
13 July 2019 – The Zimbabwe Election Support Network (ZESN) has deployed polling station-based observers to observe and report on the Nyanga Rural District Council (RDC) Ward 26 and Bikita RDC Ward 31 by-elections. ZESN observers are covering three of the four polling stations in the Nyanga by-election and two of the five in the Bikita by-election. This statement is based on reports received from ZESN so far and is specific to the polling stations where ZESN has observers.
Opening and set up of polling stations
ZESN observers have reported that polling stations opened on time with procedures being adhered to including showing the ballot boxes to be empty before polling started. All the materials needed for polling such as ballot boxes; indelible ink; the stamp to mark ballot papers; and ballot papers were reported to be available at all observed polling stations.
Political environment
So far, the environment in both Wards has been reported to be peaceful. No incident or electoral malpractice has been reported.
Party agents
ZANU PF and MDC Alliance deployed their party agents at all polling stations where ZESN has observers, however, NCA did not deploy polling agents at Chikaka and Mandadzaka Primary Schools in Bikita where the party is contesting. The NCA is not contesting in the Nyanga by-election.
Assisted voters
As of midday, the number of assisted voters was high at some polling stations and low at others. For example, 19 people had been assisted to vote at Chikaka Primary School and 20 had been assisted at Mandadzaka Primary School in Bikita. Most of the assisted voters were assisted on account of illiteracy. Other polling stations recorded low numbers of assisted voters, for example only three voters and one voter at Erin forest and Selborne polling stations in Nyanga.
Voter turnout
Turnout was generally low as of midday at the polling stations in both by-elections where ZESN had observers. It was fairly high at Mandadzaka Primary School in Bikita where 197 out of 463 registered voters had voted and at Erin forest in Nyanga where it was above 200. Turnout was lower at the other polling stations.
Turned away voters
Some polling stations had recorded rather high numbers of turned away voters. For example, 13 voters had been turned away at Erin forest polling station in Nyanga for not being on the voters’ roll and producing the wrong identity documents. Seven had been turned away at Chikaka Primary School in Bikita.
Redirected voters
The number of redirected voters differed at polling stations in the by-elections. At Selborne polling station in Nyanga, six voters had been redirected to other polling stations, of whom two contended that they voted at the same polling station in the harmonised elections. Only one person had been redirected as of midday at Chikaka polling station in Bikita.
By Own Correspondent- The woman, who has been identified as Maria Gwanju of Gweru’s Mtapa surburb, was captured on video stripping naked during a church service and the video has since gone viral on social media.
In the video, the woman who is standing next to two police officers is seen shouting before the two officers dramatically fall down while she strips naked and takes off.
Contacted for comment, the church’s prophet Jameson Mutambudzi popularly known Madzibaba Learnmore of the “back to sender fame” said he prophesied during a church service that Gwanju was in the habit of using juju to sleep with her son-in-law.
“She came to my church the other day and l warned her to stop sleeping with her daughter’s husband. She denied it and went to file a police report. She returned to the shrine with two police officers who wanted to arrest me.
“Before getting into the shrine, I warned the officers to remove their shoes but they refused thus they fell down as the spirit was not pleased with such level of disrespect. Just after that, Gwanju stripped naked and started running around before women from church gave her cloths to cover her body,” said Madzibaba Learnmore.
Domboremhikidzano Apostolic Church has taken Gweru by storm as hundreds of people flock to the shrine to get spiritual assistance. Madzibaba Learnmore is believed to be able to tame witches, to bring back lost love, to fix marriage-related problems and to bring back stolen property.
THE Nelson Chamisa-led MDC has urged the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (Zec) to guard against all electoral malpractices, including vote rigging during the Bikita ward 31 by-by-election set for today, claiming the opposition party will romp to victory if the playfield is level.
The by-election is to fill the council seat left vacant following the death of Zanu PF councillor Patrick Marozhe on April 15 this year.
MDC is being represented by its Bikita district chairperson Moses Maphosa, while Thomas Mataga will stand for Zanu PF.
In an interview with Southern Eye yesterday, MDC secretary for elections Jacob Mafume said his party was confident of winning the poll.
“We have done two rallies there and our teams worked throughout last weekend to drum-up support. We are confident that if Zec is impartial, independent and
does not allow people to be intimidated, does not allow people to be bought, (does not allow) assisted voters to multiply, food to be distributed on election
day, then we will win the Bikita by-election,” he said.
MDC held the seat from 2008 to 2013 when it lost it to Zanu PF.
Mafume said the party had done its homework and is set to win back the seat.
“Previously (2013 elections), it was affected by double candidates. Now, we have a single candidate. We have got our own agents who are trained. They are ready
to stop any mischief,” he said.
Mafume claimed that the opposition had become more popular due to Zanu PF’s bad policies.
“It is now clear to all and sundry that Zanu PF has failed. They no longer allow those in rural areas to sell their maize. There are no jobs. There is no
education, and there is no electricity; there is also no good healthcare. With all this, no person in their right mind can vote for Zanu PF,” he said.
MDC organising secretary Amos Chibaya also expressed optimism the party will win the seat.
“Prices of basic commodities continue to skyrocket. There is no shop that sells cheap things to Zanu PF supporters. We all buy in expensive shops. So, even
Zanu PF supporters are also feeling the pain. They want change,” he said.
“We won the seat before, so we are taking it back. In fact, we have plans to win all the other by-elections in future.”
Zanu PF spokesperson Simon Khaya Moyo poured cold water on MDC’s assertions.
“If the MDC is arguing the bad economy will make Zanu PF lose, let them win if they are saying so. What they think is not what we think. We are prepared to win,” he said.
-Newsday
By Own Correspondent- Three Zhombe men failed to control their sexual appetite and were caught red handed taking turns to quench their thirst on a donkey.
The owner of the donkey, Moses Chigumbu, reportedly caught the trio busy with his donkey in a nearby bush in Zhombe.
Upon realising they had been caught in the act, two of the men escaped while Evidence Siziva was apprehended by angry villagers and handed over to the police.
He was hauled before Kwekwe magistrate Mr Storey Rushambwa facing bestiality charges.
According to State papers, on 15 June Siziva and his accomplices went to a nearby bush and caught one donkey which they took turns to have sexual intercourse with.
One villager who was looking for firewood in the same bush saw the trio busy with the donkey and quickly alerted Chigumbu.
Chigumbu then summoned fellow villagers and they surrounded the three but managed to apprehend Siziva after the others made good their escape.
He was later handed over to the police and appeared in court.
In mitigation, Siziva denied the charges saying he was implicated by one of the villagers who disliked him.
“One of the men who reported me does not like me because he knows I am having an affair with his daughter,” said Siziva.
He was remanded out of custody to Friday for commencement of trial.-B Metro
A 78-year-old Gwanda man allegedly axed his wife for refusing to have sex with him.
According to Chronicle, Bishop Sibanda (78) of Zhokwe Village allegedly axed his estranged wife Mrs Agnes Sibanda before he force-marched her to their matrimonial home following their separation.
Sibanda pleaded guilty when he appeared before Gwanda Provincial magistrate, Mr Lungile Ncube.
Sibanda was charged with assault.
In mitigation, Sibanda told the court that he had committed the offence because he was sexually starved.
Sibanda was sentenced to 12 months imprisonment.Hovever the sentence was wholly suspended for five years.
The Zimbabwe gems have won their first match against Sri Lanka and lost against netball powerhouse Australia.
They are in Liverpool at the same time foreign affairs minister Sibusiso Moyo is also on a global offensive that saw him being heckled and assaulted by diasporans outside the Chatman House.
Dear editor- Chivaka polling station: 102 out of 251 voters by 1159 reports indicate ZANU PF has ordered people to vote in the afternoon.
Mandadzaka A polling station by 1217, 218 people had voted out of 461.
Chivaka and Mandadzaka A and B are MDC strongholds and we hope to win the three polling stations
Mandadzaka B
1230
Out of 601, 301 voters had voted at Mandadzaka B polling station.
Voter turn out at Chikuku polling station @1258 was 250 out of 500 registered voters. 10 voters were assisted and 3 voters turned away. The assisted were elderly people. During the harmonised elections reports indicate more than 50 were assisted and today the number is lower which is highly commendable
ZANU PF thuggish members have destroyed most of our posters near Chikuku polling station.
At Mandadzaka we managed to register our concerns about the people who had voted but were still converging within the 300 meter radius. We managed to disperse the people.
Pafungeyi Gore- MDC Youth Assembly Masvingo Province Information and Publicity
By A Correspondent- A 23-year-old self-styled prophet recently appeared in court facing allegations of murdering his own father for a Mazda 323 motor vehicle after he was tricked by another prophet into writing a confession of the murder.
It is alleged that on some day in 2018, Chitakatira took the now deceased to his shrine for spiritual cleansing where they prayed and fasted for three days. On the last day, Chitakatira gave his father poisoned water as part a ‘cleaning process’ but the concoction killed him.
The matter came to light after the accused consulted a prophet in Burma Valley asking for spiritual protection and cleaning. Chitakatira allegedly told that other prophet that he was responsible for the death of his father and wanted spiritual cover as he feared the deceased’s spirit will haunt him.
The prophet told him to write a letter confessing the criminal act as a precondition for spiritual help but he then called the deceased’s relatives from Burma Valley and showed them the confession. The matter was later reported to police station leading to Chitakatira arrest.
Government yesterday slammed an attack by opposition protesters on a Zimbabwean delegation in London led by Foreign Affairs and International Trade Minister Dr Sibusiso Busi Moyo, who is on a four-day re-engagement programme to strengthen ties and lure investors.
In a statement, Secretary for Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Service Mr Nick Mangwana, who is part of the delegation, described the attack as tragic and embarrassing to peace-loving Zimbabweans.
“The delegation in London had great engagements with different stakeholders. Government of Zimbabwe condemns the violent attacks against the delegation by a group of opposition protesters outside Chatham House in London. It’s tragic that the sceptre of violence during protests we see in Zimbabwe forcing the security services to act has reared its ugly head in foreign land discrediting, not the Government, but the hoodlums themselves and embarrassing peace-loving Zimbabweans,” said Mr Mangwana.
“The attacks have not, however, disrupted Minister SB Moyo’s successful engagements in the UK in any way. Undeterred, his programme continued with fruitful meetings with the Secretary-General of the Commonwealth, investors and tonight we end with engaging a progressive Zimbabwean Diaspora and other key stakeholders, whose support for our country’s economic and political reform efforts remains steadfast.
“The Government of Zimbabwe remains committed to peaceful dialogue with all parties, with a view to building our country around shared values, including the principles of respectful disagreement and non-violence. We affirm the right of Zimbabweans to protest but to do so peacefully.”
Minister Moyo was attacked by placard-waving protesters who were demanding the release of MDC-Alliance national deputy chairperson Mr Job Sikhala who has been arraigned before the courts for allegedly trying to subvert a constitutionally-elected Government.
The charges stemmed from a rally in which he addressed opposition supporters in Bikita last weekend where he called for the overthrowing of President Mnangagwa before 2023 when his current term officially ends.
In a video clip that went viral on social media, Minister Moyo is seen battling to get into his waiting official car with aides pushing away his attackers who were mostly women donning the Zimbabwean flag.
The paltry crowd could be seen showering the delegation with bottled water and calling the delegation names.
On Thursday, Minister Moyo had lunch with the powerful Westminster Africa Business Group in London where he invited them to grab investment opportunities that were abound in Zimbabwe.
The Westminster Africa Business Group, which brings together politicians and businesses in the interests of the UK and Africa, has been doing that since 1947.
Yesterday, Minister Moyo addressed business leaders at the Royal Institute of International Affairs also known as Chatham House.
Chairman of the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Trade, Mr Kindness Paradza said it was a shame that the MDC thugs had allowed to be used by the country’s detractors to scuttle the re-engagement programme.
“It is very unfortunate that our citizens allowed themselves to be used by those who don’t want to see this administration succeeding. What they fail to understand is that the very same minister whom they attacked and abused is currently pushing to avail to all our citizens in the Diaspora, primary documents such as birth and death certificates, identification cards and passports, through our embassies that are dotted around the world.
“Actually, London had been identified as one of the venues to launch this program. Both Minister SB Moyo and his Home Affairs Minister counterpart (Ambassador) Cain Mathema had committed themselves to preside over the launch.
“But because of this hooliganism, which we strongly condemn as Parliament, my fear now is that London may miss this opportunity,” said Mr Paradza.
He added that his Committee, which is championing the Zimbabwe Investment and development Agency Bill, had made provisions to include incentives for Diasporans wishing to invest back home, and the agenda was being pushed by Minister Moyo.
“Shame on you all those who took part in this criminal act,” said Mr Paradza.
-State Media
Outspoken Norton legislator, Temba Mliswa has condemned the incident that happened in the United Kingdom yesterday in which foreign affairs Minister Sibusiso Moyo was humiliated by diasporans who assaulted and poured water on him as he arrived at Chatman House.
Mliswa said the incident is deplorable adding that its a reflection of the healing that Zimbabwe needs for people to find each other.
Dear Editor
With current ZESA outage running for 18hrs per day and possible fuel and power price increase, mobile networks will soon have to switch off base stations` as they face huge operational bills due to power outages.
Experts in the sector have bemoaned the costs of maintaining the networks in the dark hours with heavy demand for diesel to run the base station, pushing the average costs in this long winter.
Besides the main fuel issue, experts said there are more operational and Maintainance costs when there is no power supply, which is ballooning their Opex by more than 50%, while revenue is already declining due to low usage.
Alternatives like solar farms which Econet has already installed are very ideal, but these also demand more batteries to store the charge, which comes in very heavy as capital expenditure to maintain the network fully.
Besides the Econet exception, other mobile networks do not run solar farms to maintain their own networks, relying on generators and diesel costs
Network uptime by all the mobile service operators has remained above 90%, while maintaining service provision in such times comes at a much higher cost, but the mobile service providers fear that they won’t be able to maintain this uptime for longer.
It does not also make any business sense to continuously run diesel based base stations for a community that is highly likely to be disconnected and powered off, meaning these same hours would soon not warranty such support as there is low user uptake
More technical support is now needed to run and maintain the network base stations with downtime in the dark and overtime on outage based maintenance, the operation costs are skyrocketing.
Experts said more security is also now needed as automated facilities are now more often turned off, needing so much human intervention and manual checkups, which is more expensive.
Where cameras would ordinarily help with CCTV for security and remote monitoring plus footage back up, most stations are now switched off due to the power outage, requiring physical security on the ground, ballooning costs
Normal mobile usage has drastically dropped as most subscribers are switched off, or at most keep their mobile phones only for urgent call and data services as they try to save battery power for the night.
The Average Revenue Per User ARPU has drastically dropped as well, the cost of living is biting subscribers, shifting connectivity essence to a luxury, while it has always been a basic necessity.
Unfortunately, connectivity blackout looms, this will soon be inevitable as operators are only going to consider maintaining costs in profitable areas, which in Zimbabwe, has been worsened by lack of affordable power supply.
By A Correspondent- GWERU City Council has engaged the Harare Institute (HIT) of Technology to help recover over $62 million owed by residents and businesses.
The proposal to engage HIT was tabled before an extraordinary council meeting on July 2 and the city fathers gave it a nod.
In the request prepared by Gweru council acting director of finance, Owen Masimba and presented in a closed-door meeting, the local authority said it wanted to strengthen its revenue inflows.
“In a bid to strengthen inflows so that more resources are mobilised towards service delivery, there is an urgent need to strengthen our debt collection system and the payment plan, monitoring and follow up systems,” he said.
“Harare Institute of Technology has developed an automated payment plan system that enables debt collection personnel to create, track, automatically send reminders on scheduled dates as agreed with clients and also prompt the start and end of other ancillary debt collection stages. Several local authorities have reported an increase in collection levels after using the programme.”
Mayor Josiah Makombe confirmed the development and indicated that the engagement of HIT experts would bear fruit for service delivery.
“The installation of the software at town house will be done very soon. Management is still completing some paper work that is required. It is a good move for our city because if we get more revenue, we will see improved developments on service delivery because, at the moment, things are expensive,” he said.
The programme is for free and council will only meet travel and subsistence allowances for the two engineers from HIT for the two days that they will offer installation and training of officials at the Town House.
Put together, the costs amount to $1 900 for two people for the two days.-Newsday
By Correspondent- Two men, who are accused of waylaying tobacco farmers before robbing them of nine tobacco bales, have been hauled to court.
Farai Mukauyo (32) and Last Chitsinde (25) appeared before the Harare Magistrates court (Friday) and were remanded in custody to Monday for bail application hearing by magistrate Barbara Mateko.
It is alleged that on April 16 this year, at around 1am, the complainant, Sibongile Mandimutsa, was in the company of one Tatenda, Innocent Chakabuda and Lameck Muzariri transporting their bales to Tobacco Processors along Coventry Road in Workington, Harare.
The State alleges the four were driving an Isuzu pick-up truck and upon reaching Lisbon Road in Workington, they had a tyre puncture.
They were approached by Mukauyo and Chitsinde, who were armed with iron bars and kitchen knives.
The accused allegedly assaulted Chakabuda and off-loaded nine tobacco bales from the truck and loaded them onto their two vehicles and drove away.
Police detectives tracked one of the vehicles, leading to the arrest of the accused persons.-Newsday
AUSTRALIA 55
ZIMBABWE 32
The Australian Diamonds continue their quest for a 15th World Cup victory this Saturday night, taking on the Zimbabwe Gems in the early round-robin stages of the tournament. Join The Roar for live scores and a blog of the match, starting from 6pm (AEST).
This is probably the most open Netball World Cup in history, but you’d be brave to bet against Australia again featuring in the final in just over a week’s time.
After a raft of retirements following the disappointment of the Commonwealth Games, the Diamonds take on a new look. It’s a young squad, but with the backing of Super Netball, they are definitely not lacking in experience.
Led by Goal Shooter, Caitlin Bassett, we are looking forward to seeing the mid court of Jamie-Lee Price, Paige Hadley and Kelsey Browne control this game. We expect most of the Australian squad to get a run, with coach Lisa Alexander likely to clear the bench.
Not much is known about Zimbabwe, playing in their first World Cup. Peace Proscovia is the undoubted star, making a name for herself in the circle, shooting for the Sunshine Coast Lightning.
Adelaide Muskwe also plays professionally in the UK league and she will be keen to mix it with the Australian attack.
Realistically though, Zimbabwe’s major goal will be beating one of Northern Island or Sri Lanka and progressing to the next round.
Prediction
Although Zimbabwe will put up a spirited effort, they will be no match for the Diamonds today.
Alexander will be keen to see her squad members all get a run.
Zimbabwe netball team is down 53-31 at the ongoing Vitality Netball World Cup.
It’s now 54-32 in favour of Australia.
Refresh for more details
By A Correspondent- The High Court erred in various respects when it cleared businessman Wicknell Chivayo of fraud in a case he allegedly swindled Government of $5,6 million and that the State has excellent prospects of success on appeal, the Supreme Court ruled this week.
High Court judge Justice Owen Tagu recently cleared Chivayo of any liability in the $5,6 million fraud charge involving Zimbabwe Power Company’s Gwanda project.
Prosecutor-General Mr Kumbirai Hodzi successfully sought leave to contest the decision at the Supreme Court.
Supreme Court judge Justice Bharat Patel this week allowed the PG to appeal the High Court decision saying Justice Tagu had erred.
Justice Patel ruled that all the four grounds of appeal raised by the State were meritorious.
“To conclude, I am satisfied that all the grounds of appeal in this matter, as amended, carry good prospects of success as the intended appeal before this court. The application for leave to appeal accordingly succeeds . . .”
Justice Patel found that the charge sheet and State outline in Chivayo’s case disclosed an offence and that the High Court had erred in ruling otherwise.
“In the premises, I take the view that the learned judge a quo misdirected himself in finding that the facts alleged in the charge sheet and State outline do not disclose an offence.
“Consequently, he erred by upholding the exception to the charges of fraud levelled against the respondents, quashing those charges and acquitting the respondents , on a view of the facts that could not reasonably be entertained . . .
“On a proper view of those facts, he could not reasonably have inferred the innocence of the respondents,” he said.
It was also the Supreme Court’s finding that the High Court also erred in finding that the matter was civil and that criminal charges could not be preferred against Chivayo.
“I am of the firm view that the learned judge a quo misdirected himself at law and in making the foregoing findings and consequently holding that the State could not resort to the institution of criminal proceedings in circumstances where the facts alleged, if proven, clearly demonstrated the commission of fraud by the respondents. I am satisfied that the second ground of appeal has excellent prospects of success on appeal,” ruled Justice Patel.
The Supreme Court also held that Justice Tagu had interfered with unterminated proceedings in the magistrate’s court, which is another strong ground of appeal.
“In short, the learned judge a quo erred at law in interfering with unterminated criminal proceedings, in the absence of exceptional circumstances warranting such intervention.
“It follows that the fourth and final ground of appeal also holds sufficient prospects of success on appeal,” the Supreme Court ruled.
Chivhayo is being represented by Advocates Lewis Uriri and Slyvester Hashiti instructed by Mr Wilson Manase of Manase and Partners.
Mr Chivayo was charged with three counts of fraud, while the other two counts of breaching Exchange Control Regulations suffered a stillbirth, shortly before the trial commenced.-StateMedia
AUSTRALIA 42
ZIMBABWE 21
By A Correspondent- The Nelson Chamisa-led MDC has urged the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (Zec) to guard against all electoral malpractices, including vote rigging during the Bikita ward 31 by-by-election set for today, claiming the opposition party will romp to victory if the playfield is level.
The by-election is to fill the council seat left vacant following the death of Zanu PF councillor Patrick Marozhe on April 15 this year.
MDC is being represented by its Bikita district chairperson Moses Maphosa, while Thomas Mataga will stand for Zanu PF.
In an interview with Southern Eye yesterday, MDC secretary for elections Jacob Mafume said his party was confident of winning the poll.
“We have done two rallies there and our teams worked throughout last weekend to drum-up support. We are confident that if Zec is impartial, independent and does not allow people to be intimidated, does not allow people to be bought, (does not allow) assisted voters to multiply, food to be distributed on election day, then we will win the Bikita by-election,” he said.
MDC held the seat from 2008 to 2013 when it lost it to Zanu PF.
Mafume said the party had done its homework and is set to win back the seat.
“Previously (2013 elections), it was affected by double candidates. Now, we have a single candidate. We have got our own agents who are trained. They are ready to stop any mischief,” he said.
Mafume claimed that the opposition had become more popular due to Zanu PF’s bad policies.
“It is now clear to all and sundry that Zanu PF has failed. They no longer allow those in rural areas to sell their maize. There are no jobs. There is no
education, and there is no electricity; there is also no good healthcare. With all this, no person in their right mind can vote for Zanu PF,” he said.
MDC organising secretary Amos Chibaya also expressed optimism the party will win the seat.
“Prices of basic commodities continue to skyrocket. There is no shop that sells cheap things to Zanu PF supporters. We all buy in expensive shops. So, even Zanu PF supporters are also feeling the pain. They want change,” he said.
“We won the seat before, so we are taking it back. In fact, we have plans to win all the other by-elections in future.”
Zanu PF spokesperson Simon Khaya Moyo poured cold water on MDC’s assertions.
“If the MDC is arguing the bad economy will make Zanu PF lose, let them win if they are saying so. What they think is not what we think. We are prepared to win,” he said.
By A Correspondent- Police are still to arrest scores of convicts who are freely walking the streets of Harare while on warrants of arrest, a development that has been widely condemned as lack of seriousness on the part of the law enforcement agents.
About 26 people were convicted of various offence, but lost their appeals at the High Court yet the police are struggling to apprehend them for committal to prison.
National police spokesperson Assistant Commissioner Paul Nyathi had a tough time explaining to journalists the position of the police on the 26 convicts.
He kept on promising to get updates from police’s crime section, but to no avail.
Investigations at the Harare Magistrates’ Court revealed that none of the 26 suspects had been brought to court on a warrant of arrest. A number of people have expressed concern over the delay in locking up the convicts.
“It really boggles the mind, how a whole police force can fail to apprehend people whose names and addresses are available.
“Those who are supposed to be in jail must be arrested and locked up in the interests of justice,” said a source.
Another interested party, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the police officers involved lacked seriousness.
“The police officers are not even serious. If they are finding it difficult to arrest the convicts, they should simply cause the gazetting of the particular names so that the nation can assist in apprehending them.
“Why are they not gazetting the names of the suspects? They also need to publish the names on their official website to show their seriousness,” said a source.
A legal expert who preferred anonymity said:
“When the police are looking for a criminal, it is standard practice and procedure that upon failure to locate and identify the suspect, there comes a time when the names are gazetted or published in the Press.
“Wanted persons believed to be out of the country must have their names published on the Interpol red notice to ensure they are apprehended wherever they are,” he said.-StateMedia
By A Correspondent- Suspended Zifa executive committee member Chamu Chiwanza has promised to spill the beans on the “theft” that is taking place at the association, following his suspension on allegations of electoral fraud as well as his alleged role in distabilising the Warriors at the Africa Cup of Nations finals (Afcon).
On Thursday, Zifa announced Chiwanza’s suspension with Zifa president Felton Kamambo alleging that he was part of a group that was working to cause confusion among the players.
Yesterday Chiwanza told NewsDaySport that he would react at an appropriate time, but said he will make damning revelations about the way Zifa funds have been handled.
Acting vice-president Philemon Machana is responsible for the finance portfolio, with some of his operations having raised eyebrows, particularly when he moved money from the association’s bank accounts to his company account.
“I am going to respond at the right time, but what I can promise now is that when I respond (to the Zifa allegations), I will bring the temple down on their heads,” he said.
“It’s coming very soon. Thieves will be exposed. People will see who the real thieves are. It’s going to be big; it’s going to be biblical.”
The group that has been identified by Zifa is alleged to have caused confusion by telling the players that Zifa councillors that travelled to the Afcon finals had been paid US$4 000 each while journalists got $5 000 each.
With this information the players started to make huge demands while threatening not to fulfil matches as they pressed for payment.
“I want to bear with the players,” Kamambo told journalists on Thursday. “I feel for them as well because you are in camp and someone is phoning you and giving you information that supporters coming to Egypt are being paid $400 per day when you have been paid US$1 500 to participate in the whole tournament.
Yes, US$1 500. That is what we had agreed, then the other amount was going to be paid as and when, but because of the third forces coming into camp, the likes of Hope Chizuzu, the former president Philip Chiyangwa, board member Chamu Chiwanza, that acted as catalysts to cause confusion in the camp.”
Chiyangwa had promised to respond at a Press conference yesterday, but had not done so by the time of going to print.-StateMedia
By Talent Gondo- The new Global Corruption Barometer – Africa 2019, released on African Anti-Corruption Day by Transparency International and Afrobarometer, revealed that corruption is worsening in Africa with more than one in every four people who accessed public services during the previous year paying a bribe.
Read the report
“More than one in four people who accessed public services during the previous year had to pay a bribe.
A majority of citizens surveyed in 35 African countries think that corruption is getting worse and that their government is doing a poor job of fighting it, the report indicates.
The 10th edition of the GCB–Africa, based mainly on Afrobarometer’s Round 7 surveys, is the largest and most detailed survey of citizens’ views on bribery and other forms of corruption in Africa. The report, available here, is the eighth in Afrobarometer’s Pan-Africa Profiles series on its most recent survey findings.
The report also highlights that corruption disproportionately affects the poorest citizens, who have to pay bribes twice as often as the richest to access public services such as health care and police assistance. Young people pay more bribes than their elders.”
Dairibord Zimbabwe Holdings has been hit hard by the nationwide power outages, forcing the company to resort to diesel-powered generators which has proven costly to the locally-listed firm, businessdigest has learnt.
Power utility Zesa Holdings has introduced a massive daily 17-hour load-shedding programme brought about by several challenges which include foreign currency shortages, a breakdown of equipment , unpaid debt and severe reduction of water levels at Lake Kariba.
The power outages have crippled business, resulting in lost production, with companies forced to reduce working hours.
Dairibord CE Antony Mandiwanza told businessdigest on Wednesday the company needs reliable electricity supply to avoid the risk of losing perishable food, milk and beverage products.
“Load-shedding is a national issue and in our instance we process live products which is raw milk and you need to have a reliable electricity supply to process the products without delay. If you delay, you lose the product that is fundamental and this is not peculiar to Dairibord, it is happening with everyone else.”
Mandiwanza said the company’s factories are now being supported by constantly switching on the generators.
“As I’m speaking to you, at our factory in Chitungwiza we are running on diesel and at our Harare factory we run partially on diesel and on electricity and the same applies for Chipinge. Those are the common problems which we are facing,” Mandiwanza said.
He said he hopes the short, medium and long-term solutions by government including investing in renewable energy will come to fruition.
During a breakfast meeting held in Harare on Monday, Mandiwanza revealed that a Zesa official had visited Dairibord offices to notify them that they were going to have their power cut for seven hours.
During the same meeting, Zesa acting CE Patrick Chivaura blamed the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe for recent power shortages, saying the central bank has not given the power station foreign currency needed to import power since October last year.
Independent|THE massive daily power outages rocking the country have had a devastating impact on an already fragile economy, throwing into disarray President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s mantra that “Zimbabwe is open for business”.
The severe power cuts by Zesa Holdings which last between 17 to 18 hours daily, are a result of a number of factors which include foreign currency shortages, a breakdown of equipment, debt and severe decline of the water levels at Lake Kariba.
This has been worsened by corruption and incompetence at the state entity. Among a number of fraudulent deals, the Auditor-General’s report for year-ended December 2018 exposed shocking levels of graft with the power utility paying Pito Investments US$4,9 million for transformers nine years ago which were never delivered.
Zesa subsidiary Zimbabwe Power Company paid well over US$560 000 to the same company for the supply of another set of transformers which were also never delivered.
ZPC is locked in a legal battle with ex-convict Wicknell Chivayo over the multi-million 100-megawatt Gwanda solar project. There has been very little progress on the project despite government paying US$5,1 million to Chivayo.
The failure by Zesa to pay what it owes the South African power utility Eskom and Mozambican power entity Hidroeléctrica de Cahora Bassa has resulted in the two foreign entities drastically cutting power exports to Zimbabwe. Zesa owes the two utilities a total of US$83 million.
Eskom cut the power it gives to Zimbabwe from 450 megawatts to a mere 50 megawatts. This has contributed to the severe power cuts being experienced in the country.
Government recently paid US$10 million to Eskom to help facilitate talks for the cut power supply to be restored.
The power cuts have severely paralysed business at a time the country is in desperate need of increased production to revive an economy which is mired in crisis characterised by foreign currency shortage, a debilitating liquidity crisis, low capacity utilisation, company closures and substantive job losses.
At a breakfast meeting this week with Finance minister Mthuli Ncube and Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) governor John Mangudya, Dairibord Zimbabwe revealed that it faces the threat of losing revenue for its perishable products such as milk due to the power outages.
The mining sector has also raised the red flag over the power cuts with some mines going between four and seven days without power.
“The current situation where on average the mining sector is getting four days of power per week has resulted in widespread output losses. Production statistics for the first four months of 2019 show that all key minerals recorded output declines of not less than 10% compared to the same period in 2018 due to power outages,” Chamber of Mines immediate past president and Bindura Nickel Corporation managing director Batirai Manhando said in a recent interview with the Zimbabwe Independent.
“The use of diesel generators, which are expensive to run, has led to an increase in the cost of production impacting negatively on the viability of the mining industry. The immediate implication of this is a decline in foreign exchange earnings from the mining industry and, if the situation is not resolved, we will witness some marginal mines closing their operations in the next few months.”
The retail sector has not been spared the debilitating impact of the power cuts with many outlets forced to cut working hours. Simbisa Brands has cut operating hours due to the power outages.
Hotels in Victoria Falls — the country’s prime tourist destination — have been forced to fork out thousands of dollars for fuel to run diesel-powered generators during 12-hour load-shedding periods.
The unprecedented power crisis in the country is in stark contrast to government’s drive to increase production and lure investment, according to economist Godfrey Kanyenze.
“The daily power cuts being experienced now have never happened in this country. We have no electricity from about 4am to 10pm. When do you do business? We are not witches who work at night,” Kanyenze said.
“This is the antithesis of government’s ‘open for business’ mantra. The whole project is collapsing around them. They are now clutching at straws.”
Kanyenze said a number of businesses have cut working hours with some operating a half-day schedule as a result of the prolonged power outages.
Business consultant Simon Kayereka pointed out that the power cuts are unsustainable.
“The energy crisis in Zimbabwe has long-term effects on the economy if it is not addressed urgently,” Kayereka said. “Right now hotels are running on generators and so is the retail sector, among others. This is very expensive and clearly not sustainable. The fuel for generators is not readily available. It is scary to quantify these costs. We cannot pretend things are normal. Households have not been spared either and once you talk about other social factors it becomes quite frightening.”
The socio-economic impact of the power outages is immense.
Several communities have come to depend on fetching water from homes, schools or churches that have boreholes as city councils are failing to provide water due to a plethora of challenges.
However, with the prolonged power cuts communities can no longer access the water from these sources because there is no power to pump the borehole water, making them vulnerable to water-borne diseases.
The power deficit has resulted in the increased use of firewood for cooking, which aggravates environmental degradation.
The massive power outages are a result of government’s unreliability in paying for power imports, according to economist John Robertson.
“Government has been found out by failing to keep our promises to pay what we owe. They are no longer trusted as a government,” Robertson said. “We are suffering from a crisis of confidence. At this rate we are open for Stone Age business.”
The International Monetary Fund has also expressed concern over the power outages. IMF representative to Zimbabwe Patrick Imam said the countrywide power outages will impact negatively on GDP growth and increase inflation which is currently at 97,85%, the highest since the introduction of the multi-currency regime in 2009.
Independent|The Chinese have expressed outrage at the Zimbabwean government following a siege laid on one of its investors by corrupt government officials amid complaints about the rule of law, property rights, political bullying, criminality and corruption, it has emerged.
The situation has tensed up the two countries’ diplomatic relations, while testing their strength. Harare considers Beijing its all-weather friend and strategic partner, but the Chinese this week openly questioned that posture after one of its investors was put under siege by local politicians and their supporters without protection.
This comes as Chinese company Sunny Yi Feng Tiles Zimbabwe (Pvt) Ltd, which has invested US$50 million into its Norton-based floor tile production factory, has decided to abandon its expansion plans, citing persistent harassment and demands for bribes by politicians and government officials.
The Zimbabwe Independent understands the Chinese Embassy in Harare this week engaged government over the issue and demanded protection for its investors, more so considering the two countries’ cordial relations.
China has various companies in Zimbabwe involved in mining, energy, construction, infrastructural development and manufacturing, among other economic sectors.
A Zimbabwe ministerial delegation consisting of Information minister Monica Mutsvangwa, Industry and Commerce minister Nqobizitha Mangaliso Ndlovu and Justice minister Ziyambi Ziyambi, as well as Information permanent secretary Nick Mangwana toured the company on Wednesday under pressure from Beijing to protect its investors.
In a damage-limitation exercise, Mutsvangwa invoked longstanding relations between Zimbabwe and China dating back to the liberation struggle, before calling for mutual appreciation of differences in culture and customs between locals and foreign investors.
Sunny Yi Feng started manufacturing tiles in May. The company produces between 30 000 and 35 000 square metres of tiles per day, exporting 70% of the tiles to Sadc countries, including South Africa, Malawi, Zambia, Botswana, Democratic Republic of Congo and Mozambique.
In addition, the company, which employees 1 193 locals, is setting up equipment in preparation for establishing a tableware manufacturing plant.
However, it was in the news recently after one of its employees allegedly assaulted Chief Chivero on June 17.
Sunny Yi Feng, however, denies the allegation and insists the chief actually assaulted its employee in front of two police officers and scores of people who were seeking employment. The company says police officers from Norton Police Station took statements from witnesses who exonerated the company employee and implicated the chief.
It also says it has been under siege from local politicians and their supporters. It has had run-ins with Norton MP Temba Mliswa over the alleged assault incident. Mliswa has also accused company officials of ill-treating and sexually abusing workers, failing to respect environmental laws and illegally mining gold.
His tweets accusing the Chinese of illegal gold mining and gang-raping workers have gone viral. The gold-mining and rape claims were this week dismissed by the company and the Chinese Embassy which has been angered by the issue.
The embassy has, however, initiated dialogue between Sunny Yi Feng and Mliswa, while encouraging the company to ensure it abides by the country’s labour and environment laws.
Chinese Embassy deputy ambassador Zhao Baogang told the Independent this week said government should protect foreign investors against such sort of problems.
Zhao also said the Chinese company, for its part, needs to address some labour and environmental issues which have arisen, but insisted investors should be protected.
“An MP should not always interfere in the operations of an investment project, acting like a government official or a policeman. It is the job of government officials to deal with such issues. Obviously, this is also what is expected under the ‘Zimbabwe is Open for Business policy’,” he said.
“Foreign companies, including Chinese companies, have to follow Zimbabwean laws; labour laws and environmental laws, but when problems arise they should be solved amicably without harassing investors.”
Zhao said Zimbabwe and China enjoy a longstanding friendship dating back to the liberation struggle in the 1960s and this should be reflected in trade and investment relations, not just in rhetoric and symbolisms. Beijing has fought in Harare’s corner during dark days after the liberation struggle.
In 2008, China defended Zimbabwe at the United Nations Security Council when some veto powers of the UN wanted sanctions to be imposed on the country. Beijing vetoed the UN Security Council resolution that would have condemned the country into being a global pariah. Russia abstained.
“In the new era the relations have been elevated to a comprehensive strategic level and I think that the way we treat each other should reflect that. We have confidence in the leadership of President Emmerson Mnangagwa and we want our relations to continue to grow. We, however, wish the government would take more proactive measures to protect investors,” Zhao said.
“I am not talking about Chinese investors only, but investors from all over the world. Investors all over the world look at how you treat other investors before coming to invest.
“The government is talking about re-engagement and being open for business. Actions, however, speak louder than words. If you treat investors fairly and projects succeed, investors will be watching and will throng to your country.”
Zhao said China has been consistently assisting Zimbabwe with concessional loans attracting low interest rates of between 2% and 2,5%, while also contributing to investment, job creation and major infrastructural projects. He said this showed it wanted to promote productive relations which were being undermined by investor disruptions.
“The Chinese assistance and investment should be acknowledged and appreciated, even if it is not, it should not be denigrated. Those groundless accusations in the social media against investors are not acceptable,” Zhao said.
However, Zhao said the Chinese Embassy appreciates measures subsequently taken by government to rectify the situation, “including sending ministers to the company to show their support”.
Chinese President Xi Xinping in April last year expressed displeasure to Mnangagwa over how Harare was treating Chinese investors despite the two countries enjoying warm relations. This was after government unilaterally and unlawfully cancelled Anjin’s mining concession in Chiadzwa alongside six other companies a few years ago.
Sunny Yi Feng vice-managing director Wang Xiaojing told the Independent the company’s board had become so frustrated by the persistent harassment and threats that they decided not to expand operations in the interim. He said the company would consider halting operations should the harassment, extortion and threats continue.
Wang said the company had planned to invest in more projects in Zimbabwe, but has now decided to look elsewhere in the region for oportunities.
“Our board has resolved to stop the expansion that had been planned and instead concentrate on the current project. They wanted to open four more factories here but that is not going to happen anymore. And if this persists we might also be forced to shut down,” he said.
“So far we have invested US$50 million on this project, but all in all we wanted to invest US$1,2 billion in Zimbabwe. We wanted to invest US$300 million in Masvingo for linen production. The plan was to provide seed and capacitation for farmers. But now we are thinking of taking the projects to Zambia, Angola or Mozambique.”
Wang said the while company was prepared to weather the storm in the midst of economic problems, it was worried about criminal and political issues.
“Political pressure, threats and demands are unnecessary and difficult to understand,” Wang said.
He said besides bullying by politicians and regulatory bodies, the company has to deal with power and fuel shortages, among other issues, adversely affecting production, inducing low sales volumes due to the depressed economy.
“Some of these allegations are designed to put pressure on us and every day we get different people coming here with different demands or threats. We get visits from politicians and teams from the government with different agendas,” he said.
“For example, just today alone we got visits from two different teams from the Ministry of Health one from Chegutu and another from Harare. Why not have one team? The National Social Security Authority will also be making its way in the afternoon or another visit,” Wang said.
“The MP also approached us and wanted us to purchase or hire equipment through him and also recruit employees via him. We have a problem with that. Last week he came here and chanted slogans, while threatening to get one of our directors deported.
“He has also made demands to do with the welfare of workers and we have agreed and are addressing those issues. The gang-rape allegations and gold extraction claims are totally false and if anything like that happens a report to the police should be made.”
Mliswa, however, said he was protecting the interests of the people in his constituency who are employed by the company and has no sinister intentions.
“I have been accused of so many things, but if I did those things where is the affidavit, why did they not report to the police. Let’s not lose focus. Are they complying with the laws of the country? No. Even they have said that there have things they need to sort out,” Mliswa said.
“We have been engaging and they did say that there are things that need to be fixed. They just need to comply with the regulations. We must not compromise for Norton, at what cost?”
By Sindiso Mazibisa|Yesterday (11 July 2019) I promised to give my opinion on the “alleged suspension pending disciplinary investigation” of the Bulawayo Town Clerk Mr. Christopher Dube by the Deputy Mayor Mr. Tinashe Kambarami, currently in an Acting capacity as the Mayor Mr. Solomon Mguni is away on study leave. This is it.
On 11 July 2019, Tinashe Kambarami acting as mayor invoked, purportedly Section 139 (3) (a) of the Urban Councils’ Act suspended the Town Clerk Mr. Christopher Dube from his position as the Town Clerk of the City of Bulawayo pending disciplinary action on three grounds namely on the water crisis, misappropriation of ward retention funds under the Ward Retention Fund, abuse of office and failure to implement council resolutions. The said grounds are not only arguable but tenous.
Social and mainstream media is awash with factual, political, legal, tribal and other commentary on the move taken by the Acting Mayor. My attitude, as is the norm is to briefly comment on key political and legal issues attendant to the decision taken by the Acting Mayor and his side kicks. First things first, this is a political blunder because the City of Bulawayo is facing one of its worst and crippling water shortages which the City of Bulawayo has ever battled with and has tried to administratively explain indicating that the water infrastructure needed rehabilitation. ZANU (PF) may have a field day sooner than later than the MDC Councillor has lost its marbles and is failing to deal with the City of Bulawayo issues. The July Moyo administration which opposed a rather obvious issue of having a King for the Mthwakazi people may have a field day on this one, an obvious free kick.
The communiqué attended to the administrative explanation for the crippling water shortages involved the City Councillors and the Administration including the Town Clerk. The Mayor’s position is captured in an article penned by Nduduzo Tshuma of the Chronicle newspaper. Effectively this a collective decision from the City Fathers and their administration. Accordingly the issue of the water crisis has been explained.
Politically, what begs an explanation if that while the Mayor of the City of Bulawayo His Worship Solomon Mguni is away on leave, the Acting Mayor Mr Tinashe Kambarami has assumed Executive powers (if not usurped) to invoke Section 139 (3)(a) of the Urban Councils Act. The manner of the assumption of the usurpation is thuggish and smacks of political overtones instead of administrative justice as is supposed to be the case in terms of the urban Councils Act, Administrative Justice Act, and Constitution of Zimbabwe.
Factually, the Mayor of Bulawayo His Worship Solomon Mguni has distanced himself from the forcible evict ion of the Town Clerk from his office (both physically and legally). This is politically smart. It is also legally appropriate and informed. No citizen including an Acting Mayor can take the law into his own hands. It’s an easy case for a peace order or expoliation. There is no need to look at the merits of the case whether the Town Clerk is right or wrong. An act of expoliation or right to vindicate against unlawful eviction is not indicative of the merits but stems factly from the issue of unlawful action. There is no need to be legalistic of this issue. Put in other words, whether Kambarami and cohorts have rights or not they cannot take the law into their own hands without a court order whether there is a section 129 or not.
The Town Clerk has a legal right to seek a court order to have access to his office because the process of vacating the office was not a lawful process and the thuggish behavior by the Acting Mayor and his cohorts was not only thuggish but clearly unlawful. This is not to say that the Town Clerk is not guilty of any transgressions, but due process is part of the game. He has rights. He must be lawfully suspended (vacated from his office). Not the Khiya – Khiya thuggish behavior exhibited by the Acting Mayor who has evidently thrown out due process and resorted to self-help. This is not obviously a banana republic. This is the City of Kings and Queens. SIMPLE!
Politically speaking, I repeat it is un-strategic to be fighting the Town Clerk in light of prevailing issues bedeviling the City of Bulawayo. The matter has taken a tribal twist in that, the cabal of the Councillors baying for the Town Clerk’s ouster are predominantly Shona (by orientation/origin). Secondarily, the thrust of the argument appears not to be results oriented in that instead of working with the town clerk to solve the water crisis, the City Fathers are hell-bent on deepening the crisis and inevitably inviting the Central government led by the unpredictable Minister July Moyo to set up a Commission to run the City of Bulawayo and or suspend certain Councillors. Talk of shooting oneself on the foot! The profession of ignorance and innocence by his Worship the Mayor Mr. Solomon Mguni, is informative in that he has distanced himself from the Tinashe Kambarami and cabal initiative to get rid of the Town Clerk. His attitude is available online and I don’t need to repeat that. This is what is called political Pondaring. Ukumotsha. Political Mamparas.
Legal speaking Section 139 of the Urban Councils Act is very clear that, I quote
139 (3) If it appears to the Mayor or Chairman, as the case may be that the Town Clerk of the council has been guilty of such conduct, that is desirable that the Town Clerk should not be permitted to carry on his work, he –
May suspend the Town Clerk from office and require him forthwith to leave his place of work; and ….””
The invocating of Section 139 presupposes two legal facts, firstly that it is the Mayor (the emphasis is mine) who should do this. It’s factual and legal that the Mayor of the City of Bulawayo is none other than His Worship Mr Solomon Mguni. The purported suspension was done by one Mr. Tinashe Kambarami an Acting Mayor who clearly is not a Mayor in terms of the Urban Councils’ Act. Unequivocally the Act states that it is the Mayor who has the powers to suspend the Town Clerk not the Acting Mayor. The usurpation of the powers is not only unlawful, arbitrary, capricious, ridiculous, ill-advised, silly but ultra – vires the Urban Councils’ Act Chapter 29:15. This explains why if one watches the online video of the verbal exchange between the said Tinashe Kambarami and the Town Clerk Mr. Christopher Dube, there are a lot of unprintable obscenities that make for a good time watch and listening to. We can do better than this as a people.
Further, legally speaking upon appointment or election as a Councillor, the political jacket ceases to exist and all councilors including the Mayor and the Deputy Mayor by extension have a duty to act in an administrative, fiduciary, collective and responsible manner for the city of Bulawayo (amongst other cities) , meaning the councilors have to respect, not only the urban Councils Act, but the citizens, the law and the Constitution of the land and in that regard there reposes upon them a duty, responsibility and expectations for the residents to expect rational decisions concerning city affairs. For a whole acting Mayor to go hand in toe with a camera man and call for back up from fellow councilors to evict the Town Clerk without a court order is not only irresponsible but unlawful, and totally unacceptable in a democratic society. The city of Bulawayo deserves better.
For the record it is unnecessary or it was for the Town Clerk to be threatening death to the Deputy Mayor, for the obviously unlawful acts that the Acting Mayor was committing together with his evil cabal. Why was it seen as POLITICALLY expedient to override a full council meeting to deal with (possibly) expedient administrative issues by having the Deputy Mayor take the law into his own hands without a full council resolution – and evidently without the knowledge and blessing of the Mayor His Worship Cllr Solomon Mguni to suspend the Town Clerk.
I have no energy to be dealing with the looming and previous issues relating to the Acting Mayor which have a bearing on the decisions being taken by him relating to the Town Clerk, but what I can comment in passing is that the City of Bulawayo deserves better, and time will deal with him, the Town Clerk, the resident and the Central government which has just been given a penalty to deal with the City of Bulawayo either through setting up a commission or suspending the transgressing councilors, whose conduct is clearly becoming unbecoming.
I had digressed, back to the main issue. Section 139 is very clear and straight forward and that it says “if it appears to the Mayor…”
Factually and legally Tinashe Kambarami is not the Mayor of the City of Bulawayo. It is Cllr Solomon Mguni who is the Mayor of the City of Bulawayo and his decision is clear that he is not party to the decision to suspend the Town Clerk. Cllr Tinashe Kambarami is only an Actor and his acting has dismally failed. Effectively his decision is void ab initio (a nullity from the beginning). Further, a close reading of Section 139 of the Urban Councils Act shows that it must be desirable that the Town Clerk be suspended to carry on his work. The reasons given for the suspension of the Town Clerk don’t evince such desirability. The unilateral nature for the purported suspension is not only suspect but criminal. This posture is supported by the obvious composition of the cabal that went against the Town Clerk head on toe effectively torpedoing the council meeting that was meant to deal with the administrative issues.
Legally and politically, the Kambarami – MDC boob in dealing with the suspension of the Town Clerk is a big mess and the big lash attendant to it is warranted and well deserved. I foresee the Town Clerk getting a provisional order blocking his suspension. The obvious political backlash is obvious via Twitter, Facebook and other online platforms, needs no expounding on. I maintain that in terms of the Urban Councils Act Mr. Tinashe Kambarami is offside and chickens are about to come home to roost and it’s time to buy more popcorns.
I rest my case.
By Sindiso S Mazibisa
President Southern Stars Foundation and;
Director Centre for Legal Research and Advocacy
Cell: +263 774 457 429
Opinion By Ben Manyenyeni|There is a messy video clip from the City of Bulawayo our second largest metro in which the Deputy Mayor is serving the Town Clerk ( City Manager in other jurisdictions) with a letter of his suspension from duty. Should never have been recorded !!
I relate well with the crisis visiting the City of Kings….. deja vu.
Being Mayor of the capital city Harare at its weakest point in time gave me the dubious honour of having served 3 such suspension letters in 5 turbulent years and receiving 2 such myself.
Arguably the most difficult job in the land & the most high profile elected opposition office in our polarised, toxic politics.
Attempts to rescue the sinking Titanic were fought by partisan politics, political interference, legacy debts, poor revenue collection, decades of infrastructure backlog, mis-managed costs, lethargic management and sub-prime councillors.
I became the biggest victim of the first suspension letter I served.
My own shareholders where I was General Manager and Principal Officer got very angry – arguing that my Town House decisions were hurting their political and business interests.
The powerful forces behind the Town Clerk had flexed their muscles to hit back.
I got a call from the dominant shareholder in proper boys’ language – was asked if I had the manhood to face it all.
I boldly said YES and I was instantly told what would happen to my manhood.
5 hours later the PA to Group CEO brought a letter saying the Board had just met and I was the subject of a Board Resolution: get out of the office, leave the car, the laptop and go home. FIRED! Made sure this sad story did not make it to the media then.
NO ONE WANTS TO LOSE A JOB ESP IN HARSH TIMES
The true cost of being mayor hit me: over USD 300k lost in four and half years: had to make a living at one-seventh of my normal job
my lowest since July 1990.
I felt like an unemployed person with an expensive urban life, loans etc. Son sent home for fees etc.
For the first time in my life I used the empowering words to my wife: “God will Provide”.
It was SORE but HE did!
That mayoral “salary” which I almost always dished out (and exceeded) to the needy I now needed.
As we speak 4 Executives at City of Harare have been on suspension from duty for over 18 months over remuneration improprieties. One resumed work recently.
Our municipalities are tricky creatures and very well-kept secrets.
In a population of 15m people I don’t think there are 20, yes TWENTY only, who can competently analyse performances in our councils on an informed basis.
The whole episode of removing the Harare Town Clerk and the political leg-irons which cost us four and half years of our 5 year term without the certainty of a CEO at the City highlights the political importance of the Town Clerk.
You will understand why I had to be suspended from office twice and why I had to spend nights in police custody: my approach to have a professional appointment ignored the demands for a political Town Clerk.
For many it was their first real encounter with the significance of a Town Clerk.
Harare alone is a big as 10 to 15 government ministries and historically Harare has been bigger than some African countries.
It’s a mini government!
Which is why I always stated that after the mayors of Harare and Bulawayo the next most important council position is the Chairman of the Finance Committee for Harare City.
Which is why I argue confidently that the second most powerful position in my party is the office now held by ex-Harare Mayor, Sen. Eng. Elias Mudzuri who is Secretary for Local Government for a party which “controls” 28 out of 32 urban local authorities.
I put it as “controls” for a reason known to many.
The CEO of Harare is, in my book, second only to the Chief Secretary to the President and Cabinet.
The Bulawayo metro is a giant operation and its Town Clerk must be viewed in that context.
Those going to comment or ACT on the BCC debacle will need to be clear, informed and fair.
Skies, you’re no village – SISONKE!
Washington, July 12: US President Donald Trump on Thursday reportedly claimed that Hollywood actor Arnold Schwarzenegger has died. According to Yahoo News White House correspondent Hunter Walker, Donald Trump declared Arnold Schwarzenegger dead during his speech at a social media summit at the White House. Here it may be noted that Schwarzenegger is alive.
“Arnold Schwarzenegger… You know what? He died… I was there,” Walker quoted Trump as saying. “The president was talking about Apprentice ratings when he quipped that Schwarzenegger ‘died.’ Real life and death stuff,”
Walker said in another tweet. The former professional body-builder reacted to his “death news” with a dig at Trump with whom his ongoing feud is no secret.
“I’m still here. Want to compare tax returns, @realDonaldTrump?” Schwarzenegger tweeted.
Trump has been at loggerheads with former California Governor since 2016, when Schwarzenegger, a Republican, announced in 2016 that he would not be casting his vote for Trump. “For the first time since I became a citizen in 1983, I will not vote for the Republican candidate for President,” he had said in his statement.
Thando Mahlangu was allegedly publicly humiliated and kicked out of the Gautrain station in Johannesburg because his traditional garb was deemed ‘inappropriate’.
The stage is set for a South African Equality Court hate speech battle between the Gautrain operators and an Ndebele cultural activist, who was allegedly kicked off the rapid transit train because of his traditional attire last year.
The Citizen reported in November last year how Thando Mahlangu was allegedly publicly humiliated and kicked out of the Gautrain station in Johannesburg because his traditional garb was deemed “inappropriate”.
The 34-year-old, from KwaMhlanga in the former KwaNdebele homeland, had taken the train from Pretoria to Johannesburg and went about his errands. On his return, Mahlangu was told he was no longer welcome aboard the train.
Gautrain operators, Bombela Concession Company, have since apologised to Mahlangu but the cultural activist would have none of it and demands R1.5 million in damages for humiliation.
Mahlangu’s lawyer, Nqabayethu Buthelezi, said they have been given July 25 as the date of the preliminary hearing, which he said was for the Equality Court to iron out administrative issues.
He said their replying affidavit will be filed by Monday.
“This matter has taken long and we are fired up that it will finally be heard. What encourages us is that the Equality Court is quite fast and, once the hearing starts, the matter should be wrapped up in no time,” Buthelezi said.
Mahlangu’s lawyers argue that his right to dignity was violated, he was humiliated in public just for being himself, denied a public service and was instead treated like a criminal.
Kesagee Nayager, Bombela Concession Company spokesperson, confirmed receipt of the notice to appear in court.
“We respect the rule of the law and will await for the court’s outcome in this regard,” she said.
Mahlangu said he was hopeful that his dignity will be restored by the court, saying he was deeply hurt by the incident, which he said made him feel small in his proud attire.
“Not only was my dignity hurt but also that of my people, AmaNdebele and that of Africans. I wondered how many people have experienced this and did not stand up for their rights. I will not back down. I will see this through,” he said.
He called on people to dress up in their traditional attires and support him on this David and Goliath legal tussle.
The Malawian Constitutional Court is set to start hearing a petition seeking to nullify presidential election results on July 29 amid revelations that Malawi Electoral Commission (MEC) has failed to comply with the order on disclosure of information, including documents they used to declarer the presidential winner in the in the May 21 Elections.
MEC is the second respondent in a case which President Peter Mutharika of Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) is the first respondent while the country’s immediate past vice-president Saulos Chilima of UTM Party is the first petitioner with Malawi Congress Party (MCP) president Lazarus Chakwera as second petitioner.
Chilima and Chakwera are challenging the presidential vote and seeking nullification.
Court documents which indicate that having been ordered on 27 June 2019, to disclose and produce the documents directed by the judges within 11 days, MEC has not complied with the said order by failing to produce the documents.
MEC according to the Court has failed to produce original presidential results sheets for all the 5002 polling centres (Form 66C equivalent to the popular V11 Forms in Zimbabwe) duly signed by poll officials and other agents of candidates and or political parties including those of the second petitioner.
The Jane Ansah led electoral commission has also failed to produce original presidential results tally sheets, list of polling centres and results per each polling centre constituency.
The court also ordered MEC to produce presidential tally sheets for all the 28 districts (Form 73C) but has also failed.
MEC has also failed to produce log books for 12 districts of Thyolo, Blantyre, Machinga, Phalombe, Mulanje, Nsanje, Chikwawa, Mangochi, Lilongwe, Dedza, Nkhotakota and Rumphi.
The court ordered MEC to produce list of Data entry clerks but again they have failed to submit the list.
While MEC has not submitted the documents, lawyers representing President Mutharika complained to the court that Chilima has not complied with an order to file “paginated bundles” to their client by July 1 this year.
In a petition dated July 9 2019, private practice lawyer Frank Mbeta submits that Chilima’s legal team has not shared the documents they will rely on in court.
But lawyer George Mtchuka Mwale of Chilima’s legal team said they complied with the court order by filing all relevant documents.
Mbeta said he has received Chakwera’s paginated bundle.
On June 27, the court directed parties to the case to exchange or serve each other relevant documents, including responses, before July 29 when hearing of the substantive matter to the case is set to start.
Chief Justice Andrew Nyirenda certified the case as a constitutional matter and assigned a five-judge panel comprising Healey Potani, Mike Tembo, Dingiswayo Madise, Ivy Kamanga and Redson Kapindu.
Harare magistrate Mrs Barbra Mateko yesterday dismissed an application for refusal of further remand by MDC legislator for Kuwadzana East Chalton Hwende. Hwende is charged with subverting a constitutionally-elected Government.
His lawyer, Mr Reginald Mutero, submitted that the State would suffer no prejudice if his client was removed from remand. He told the court that the State was failing to furnish a trial date on time, thereby violating his client’s constitutional rights.
Mr Mutero said the State could just call Hwende back to court by way of summons. “The State cannot use the remand process to violate the accused person’s rights,” he said.
Mr Mutero said according to the Constitution, his client has the right for a speedy trial.
The State opposed Hwende’s application, arguing that he was facing a very serious offence which requires vigorous investigations and formalities before he could be furnished with a trial date.
In dismissing the application, Mrs Mateko said Hwende was facing a serious offence. She said investigations in the matter could not be taken lightly since it was not a simple case.
“Four months cannot be taken as a delay considering the complexity of the matter,” said Mrs Mateko. “The court is satisfied by the progress made by the State so far, therefore the application is dismissed.”
Mrs Mateko deferred the matter to August 19.
It is alleged that during the period extending from December 28 to 31, 2018, Hwende posted on his Twitter handle messages that in their nature had the effect of inciting people to revolt against Government both in his personal capacity and as a Movement for Democratic Change-Alliance Member of Parliament for Kuwadzana East constituency.
State Media|THE High Court erred in various respects when it cleared businessman Wicknell Chivayo of fraud in a case he allegedly swindled Government of $5,6 million and that the State has excellent prospects of success on appeal, the Supreme Court ruled this week.
High Court judge Justice Owen Tagu recently cleared Chivayo of any liability in the $5,6 million fraud charge involving Zimbabwe Power Company’s Gwanda project.
Prosecutor-General Mr Kumbirai Hodzi successfully sought leave to contest the decision at the Supreme Court.
Supreme Court judge Justice Bharat Patel this week allowed the PG to appeal the High Court decision saying Justice Tagu had erred.
Justice Patel ruled that all the four grounds of appeal raised by the State were meritorious.
“To conclude, I am satisfied that all the grounds of appeal in this matter, as amended, carry good prospects of success as the intended appeal before this court. The application for leave to appeal accordingly succeeds . . .”
Justice Patel found that the charge sheet and State outline in Chivayo’s case disclosed an offence and that the High Court had erred in ruling otherwise.
“In the premises, I take the view that the learned judge a quo misdirected himself in finding that the facts alleged in the charge sheet and State outline do not disclose an offence.
“Consequently, he erred by upholding the exception to the charges of fraud levelled against the respondents, quashing those charges and acquitting the respondents , on a view of the facts that could not reasonably be entertained . . .
“On a proper view of those facts, he could not reasonably have inferred the innocence of the respondents,” he said.
It was also the Supreme Court’s finding that the High Court also erred in finding that the matter was civil and that criminal charges could not be preferred against Chivayo.
“I am of the firm view that the learned judge a quo misdirected himself at law and in making the foregoing findings and consequently holding that the State could not resort to the institution of criminal proceedings in circumstances where the facts alleged, if proven, clearly demonstrated the commission of fraud by the respondents. I am satisfied that the second ground of appeal has excellent prospects of success on appeal,” ruled Justice Patel.
The Supreme Court also held that Justice Tagu had interfered with unterminated proceedings in the magistrate’s court, which is another strong ground of appeal.
“In short, the learned judge a quo erred at law in interfering with unterminated criminal proceedings, in the absence of exceptional circumstances warranting such intervention.
“It follows that the fourth and final ground of appeal also holds sufficient prospects of success on appeal,” the Supreme Court ruled.
Chivhayo is being represented by Advocates Lewis Uriri and Slyvester Hashiti instructed by Mr Wilson Manase of Manase and Partners.
Mr Chivayo was charged with three counts of fraud, while the other two counts of breaching Exchange Control Regulations suffered a stillbirth, shortly before the trial commenced.
State Media|Government yesterday slammed an attack by opposition protesters on a Zimbabwean delegation in London led by Foreign Affairs and International Trade Minister Dr Sibusiso Busi Moyo, who is on a four-day re-engagement programme to strengthen ties and lure investors.
In a statement, Secretary for Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Service Mr Nick Mangwana, who is part of the delegation, described the attack as tragic and embarrassing to peace-loving Zimbabweans.
“The delegation in London had great engagements with different stakeholders. Government of Zimbabwe condemns the violent attacks against the delegation by a group of opposition protesters outside Chatham House in London. It’s tragic that the sceptre of violence during protests we see in Zimbabwe forcing the security services to act has reared its ugly head in foreign land discrediting, not the Government, but the hoodlums themselves and embarrassing peace-loving Zimbabweans,” said Mr Mangwana.
“The attacks have not, however, disrupted Minister SB Moyo’s successful engagements in the UK in any way. Undeterred, his programme continued with fruitful meetings with the Secretary-General of the Commonwealth, investors and tonight we end with engaging a progressive Zimbabwean Diaspora and other key stakeholders, whose support for our country’s economic and political reform efforts remains steadfast.
“The Government of Zimbabwe remains committed to peaceful dialogue with all parties, with a view to building our country around shared values, including the principles of respectful disagreement and non-violence. We affirm the right of Zimbabweans to protest but to do so peacefully.”
Minister Moyo was attacked by placard-waving protesters who were demanding the release of MDC-Alliance national deputy chairperson Mr Job Sikhala who has been arraigned before the courts for allegedly trying to subvert a constitutionally-elected Government.
The charges stemmed from a rally in which he addressed opposition supporters in Bikita last weekend where he called for the overthrowing of President Mnangagwa before 2023 when his current term officially ends.
In a video clip that went viral on social media, Minister Moyo is seen battling to get into his waiting official car with aides pushing away his attackers who were mostly women donning the Zimbabwean flag.
The paltry crowd could be seen showering the delegation with bottled water and calling the delegation names.
On Thursday, Minister Moyo had lunch with the powerful Westminster Africa Business Group in London where he invited them to grab investment opportunities that were abound in Zimbabwe.
The Westminster Africa Business Group, which brings together politicians and businesses in the interests of the UK and Africa, has been doing that since 1947.
Yesterday, Minister Moyo addressed business leaders at the Royal Institute of International Affairs also known as Chatham House.
Chairman of the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Trade, Mr Kindness Paradza said it was a shame that the MDC thugs had allowed to be used by the country’s detractors to scuttle the re-engagement programme.
“It is very unfortunate that our citizens allowed themselves to be used by those who don’t want to see this administration succeeding. What they fail to understand is that the very same minister whom they attacked and abused is currently pushing to avail to all our citizens in the Diaspora, primary documents such as birth and death certificates, identification cards and passports, through our embassies that are dotted around the world.
“Actually, London had been identified as one of the venues to launch this program. Both Minister SB Moyo and his Home Affairs Minister counterpart (Ambassador) Cain Mathema had committed themselves to preside over the launch.
“But because of this hooliganism, which we strongly condemn as Parliament, my fear now is that London may miss this opportunity,” said Mr Paradza.
He added that his Committee, which is championing the Zimbabwe Investment and development Agency Bill, had made provisions to include incentives for Diasporans wishing to invest back home, and the agenda was being pushed by Minister Moyo.
“Shame on you all those who took part in this criminal act,” said Mr Paradza.
A NUMBER of pupils who have not paid school fees at Barham Green (BG) Primary School in Bulawayo were yesterday chucked out of class while others wrote end of term examinations.
The pupils were put in separate classrooms or asked to play outside while others remained for the examinations.
It is against Government policy to send pupils home or punish them for failing to pay school fees or levies. Pupils whose parents fail to pay school fees and levies, according to the policy, should be allowed to attend classes while school authorities take measures to force defaulting parents to pay.
A Chronicle news crew arrived at the school and witnessed some of the pupils playing outside while others were in the classrooms writing examinations.
Parents condemned the practice which they said started on Tuesday when examinations commenced.
“My child in Grade 6 was not allowed to write the end of term examinations since Tuesday because I have not been able to pay his school fees,” said one of the parents.
Parents were in disagreement with the act, saying the school authorities were infringing on their children’s rights to education.
They further expressed concern over the economic situation which hindered them from paying school fees on time.
Acting Bulawayo Provincial Education Director (PED) Mrs Olicah Kaira said school authorities are not allowed to chase pupils from school due to non-payment of fees.State media
Barcelona have signed France striker Antoine Griezmann from La Liga rivals Atletico Madrid after paying his 120m euros (£107m) buyout clause.
The Frenchman will sign a five-year deal, the club announced on Friday.
“Barcelona has paid the 120 million euro buyout clause to release Antoine Griezmann from Atlético Madrid,” reads a statement on Barca’s official website.
“The player will sign a contract with his new club for the next five seasons, through to 30 June 2024, with a buyout clause of 800 million euros.”
Griezmann made 257 appearances at Atletico, scoring 133 goals. He won a Spanish Cup, Europa League and UEFA Super Cup with the club.Soccer24Zimbabwe
Mighty Warriors have remained out of the top 100 on the latest Fifa Rankings announced on Friday.
The women’s national team stayed on position 102 in the world with 1192 points while in Africa, the side moved one place up to position 11.
Zimbabwe was last in action in September last year at the 2018 COSAFA Championship held in South Africa.
Nigeria is the top-ranked side on the continent with Cameroon, South Africa, Ghana and Ivory Coast completing the top five.
2019 Fifa World Cup winners the USA retained the top post on the global table while German, Netherlands, France and England follow up.
Africa Top 10: 1. Nigeria, 2. Cameroon, 3. S. Africa, 4. Ghana, 5. Ivory Coast, 6. E. Guinea, 7. Mali, 8. Morocco, 9. Algeria, 10. Senegal.
World Top 10: 1. USA, 2. Germany, 3. Netherlands 4. France 5. England 6. Sweden, 7. Canada, 8. Australia, 9. Korea DPR 10. Brazil-Soccer24Zimbabwe
TURKISH topflight side Yeni Malatyaspor have confirmed the signing of Kaizer Chiefs defender Teenage Hadebe on a two-year deal.
Hadebe did get regular playing time last season under Ernst Middendorp although some Chiefs fans appeared to question whether he was the right fit in central defence.
The 23-year-old was at times guilty of giving away silly fouls and generally did not seem to win over the Amakhosi faithful.
The Bulawayo-born star made 19 appearances in all competitions in what was a season of disappointment for the Middendorp-coached outfit.
Nonetheless, it seems he has been shipped out to Malatyaspor though Chiefs are yet to officially confirm his departure.
The Turkish club’s official website said: “EY Malatyaspor tied the colours of Zimbabwean national team stopper Teenage Hadebe and Australian midfielder Luke Brattan.
“Transfer work continues without interruption for EY Malatyaspor, two players have been added to the squad.
“South African team Kaizer Chiefs’ Zimbabwean defender Teenage Hadebe, who (has signed) a two-year contract. The 23-year-old is expected to join the camp today.” — Sport24.co.za
SUSPENDED Zifa board member Chamu Chiwanza has vowed to challenge the decision by the association’s emergency committee and says he will also spill the beans over what happens at 53 Livingstone Avenue.
Former Zifa vice-president, Omega Sibanda, who was also fingered by the association as fanning trouble in the game, said he knew the procedures to follow to clear his name and would only wait for the conclusion of the process started by the Sports Commission.
Chiwanza, who was suspended following an emergency committee meeting on Wednesday, is set to appear for a hearing to answer various charges. These include his contested nomination for the post of the Zifa board member, instigating anarchy in the Warriors camp during the recent Afcon sojourn in Egypt and plotting to destabilise the current board.
“These are fabricated allegations by people who are trying to run away from taking responsibility for their deficiencies,’’ Chiwanza said.State media
MISUSE of farming inputs by some criminal elements, insufficient seed and lack of proper machinery have rendered most prison farms idle with little production that is insufficient to feed the ballooning prison population.
A number of Zimbabwe Prisons and Correctional Services (ZPCS) staffers have over the years been arrested and prosecuted for diverting farming inputs either to their farms or to the parallel market.
The country’s prisons have a carrying capacity of 17 000 inmates but, currently, close to 20 000 are in languishing jail.
ZPCS, which has failed to sustain itself, now relies on Treasury funding to feed the inmates.
Ideally, ZPCS with all the cheap labour, land and farming expertise is expected to produce enough food for inmates all year round plus surplus for sale, but the production has been extremely poor over the years.
Prisoners are gobbling almost close to $2,5 million monthly in basic foodstuffs like mealie-meal, cooking oil and sugar.
Daily the prisoners require 11 560kg of mealie-meal, 7 706ml of cooking oil, 9 633kg of sugar, vegetables and other foodstuffs.
ZPCS Commissioner-General Retired Major-General Paradzai Zimondi lamented the underutilisation of the farms.State media
President Mnangagwa has set September 7 as the day for National Assembly by-elections in Mangwe, Matabeleland South and Glen View South in Harare that fell vacant following the deaths of Obedingwa Mguni of Zanu-PF and MDC-Alliance’s Vimbai Tsvangirai Java, respectively.
The proclamations were published in yesterday’s Government Gazette.
The President made the proclamations in accordance with Section 39 (2) of the Electoral Act.
“The Speaker of Parliament notified me on 24th June, 2019 in writing of a vacancy which has arisen by reason of the death of Honourable Obedingwa Mguni on 1 8th June, 2019 who was elected member of the National Assembly for Mangwe Constituency.
“Now therefore, under and by virtue of the powers vested in the President as aforesaid, I do, by this proclamation (a) order a new election for the constituency of Mangwe (b) fix Friday the 26th July 2019, as the date on which the nomination court shall sit, commencing at 10 o’clock in the morning at Magistrates’ Court, Fifth Avenue Gwanda for the purpose of receiving nomination of candidates for election as a member of the National Assembly constituency for Mangwe and (c) fix Saturday the 7th of September 2019, as the day on which a poll shall be taken if a poll becomes necessary in terms of Section 46 (17) (c) of the Electoral Act,” the said in the proclamation.
For Glen View South, the nomination court will sit at Magistrates Court at Rotten Row on July 26 at 10am. Mguni collapsed at Parliament and was pronounced dead at West End hospital following diabetes-related complications. Mrs Tsvangirai Java died from injuries she sustained in an accident just outside Kwekwe in May on her way from Bulawayo.State media
