By A Correspondent| Zimnat Life Assurance has introduced a funeral plan, Gadziriro/Lungiselelo, that pays out up to US$6 000 for a family of six for less than five United States dollars a month.
For a premium of US$4,99 per month a husband, wife and four children are each covered for an amount of US$1 000 in the event of their death, meaning that altogether US$6 000 will be paid out eventually to the family, presuming premiums continue to be paid.
The policy is not restricted to a family of six, nor is the amount of cover limited to US$1 000 per person. Families of any size, including extended family members, can take out a Gadziriro/Lungiselelo funeral policy, with the premium varying according to the number of people to be covered and the value of the cover required. The policy can also be taken out by a single individual.
The minimum cover per person under the Gadziriro/Lungiselelo plan is US$500 whilst the maximum cover is US$5 000 and the cover can be extended to parents and other extended family members for an additional charge.
A major feature of Gadziriro/Lungiselelo is that payment is guaranteed in United States dollars, which means the value of the policy remains the same and unaffected by any fluctuations in the value of RTGS dollars.
The policy can be applied for online through Zimnat’s self-help web portal, selfcare.zimnat.co.zw on which customers can enjoy a 10% discount by signing up. Alternatively, customers can sign up at any Zimnat branch, or through Zimnat agents countrywide.
Premiums can be paid on a monthly, quarterly or annual basis with customers getting a discount if the premiums are paid for the whole year.
The plan has an option for vigil and tombstone cover, doesn’t have any waiting period in the event of accidental death and no medicals are required to sign up.
Farai Dziva|In a bid to please his handlers Zanu PF youth leader Pupurai Togarepi went out of his way and attacked MDC A leader Nelson Chamisa claiming that he the youthful leader is a mere job seeker.
Ironically Togarepi and Chamisa hail from Gutu South Constituency.
Addressing a Zanu PF rally in Harare, Togarepi said:” Who will buy MDC’ s cheap political tricks?
Some MDC MPs conceded that Zanu PF won the harmonized elections last year.
This young man- Chamisa is the one who is making a lot of noise because he is seeking employment,” claimed Togarepi.
Several Zimbabweans have described Togarepi’s remarks as “hogwash.”
Former MDC A MP Jeffryson Chitando said:” Togarepi is hallucinating and his remarks cannot go unchallenged.He is conscious of the fact that his party stole the people’s victory.”
Political analyst Batsiranai Ngugama said:” Togarepi is merely dramatizing the whole thing.Who is he fooling by pretending to be oblivious of the truth?”
Farai Dziva|Zanu PF youth leader Pupurai Togarepi has challenged the country’s main opposition party to produce evidence of election rigging.
Addressing party supporters in Harare, Togarepi described MDC A’s “claims that elections were rigged as cheap political grandstanding.”
“I challenged some MDC MPs to produce the evidence of election rigging and they could not say anything convincing,” claimed Togarepi.
He added:”Do you have the evidence to prove that Zanu PF rigged the elections?
We are fed up with your cheap propaganda.”
Zanu PF leader Emmerson Mnangagwa was declared the winner by the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission and the Constitutional Court in controversial circumstances.
By Own Correspondent- Anselem Nhamo Sanyatwe, former head of the Presidential Guard finally handed over the post to Brigadier-General Fidelis Mhonda three months after he was moved.
However, Sangatwe is yet to be retired from the army despite the announcement in February.He has been appointed the Zimbabwean ambassador to Tanzania.
Sangatwe is among 16 new ambassadors deployed to various countries recently.
He is one of the four senior army commanders president Mnangagwa retired and deployed to the Foreign Affairs ministry in February.
Rumours have been circulating since then suggesting that there was a fallout between president Mnangagwa and vice president Chiwenga over the top commanders’ retirement.
Speaking during the hand over take over ceremony yesterday, Sanyatwe said:
I am very pleased this morning and I feel greatly humbled to stand before you officers, men and women of this formation to officially hand over the brigade to Brigadier-General Fidelis Mhonda; a brigade, Presidential Guard brigade, that is intact, formidable, highly trained and loyal to the Commander-in-Chief and our great nation as a whole as per all the standards expected of the guards.
Sanyatwe urged his successor to keep the troops busy to avoid mischief. He also advised the army not to be carried away by social media propaganda, disinformation and subversion.-Newsday
By Mlondolozi Ndlovu| On the 23rd of May 2019, Zimbabwe lost one of its sons of contemporary revolutionary struggle against social, political as well as economic injustice since the early 60’s.
Coming from a ZAPU inclined family in which my father was a member of the ZPRA army, I developed interest in the mother party’s history and easily connected with the Black Russian.
Through the current ZAPU Deputy Treasurer Mjobisa Noko, I easily had access to a number of interviews with the intelligence supremo. This article is a narration of Dr Dabengwa’s personal experience in pre and post independent Zimbabwe.
Born in 1939, Cde Dumiso Dabengwa was about 20 years old in 1960. By then, he had not seen any military training of which is the major focus of whatever has been dedicated to his history.
Cde Dabengwa revealed to me that on January 1, 1960, some nationalists, the likes of George Silundika, Enos Nkala, Morton Dizzy Malianga and others, formed the National Democratic Party. It was a successor of the previously banned SRANC in 1959 of which Joshua Nkomo had been president.
Nkomo was in self-imposed exile when the NDP was formed in 1960. So, it was the first Congress of the NDP in 1960 which voted Nkomo as President in absentia.
By then, he said, the nationalist movement had no military wing, camps neither a clear -ut strategy. Thus in 1960, Cde Dabengwa was not a soldier but a youth of the NDP.
The major difference between the NDP and its predecessor SRANC was a tendency towards sabotage activities of which Dumiso became one of the several youthful participants.
It ought to be noted that confronting the settler colonial Rhodesian system had not been a joke.
Thus, the major players of the NDP’s youthful sabotage activities were generally in their early 20s in 1960.
They had a symbiotic relationship with the nationalists who somehow assumed a fatherly role in the general ideological thrust of the nationalist movement.
Nkomo came back to Rhodesia to lead the NDP which was to be banned at the end of 1961.
It was that ban which resulted in the resuscitation of the NDP as the Zimbabwe African Peoples Union [ZAPU].
Meanwhile, the first Publicity Secretary of the NDP had been one Robert Mugabe who had taught in Ghana. It was generally sabotage that drew the attraction of the Rhodesian settler military as well as Intelligence system towards the activities of Cde Dumiso Dabengwa and his confederates. Cde Dumiso says he left the then Rhodesia in 1963 for Zambia, where the banned ZAPU was headquartered.
As an independent country then, Zambia was close to a year old. In 1964, he and others left for military training in the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics [USSR].
It is Cde Dumiso, Ambrose Muthinhiri, Robson Manyika and others that formed the core ZAPU group of trainees in the USSR in 1964. By then, the split of 1963 had taken place and ZANU was about a year old.
Back in Zambia in about 1965, Cde Dumiso became part of ZAPU’s military as well as Intelligence structures.
The struggle had not been about appointments by strategically trusted cadres thus some years later, cde Dabengwa was given the responsibility of heading ZAPU’s Intelligence Unit.
The Rhodesians were well informed about such developments and became a predator to the freedom as well as survival of Cde Dumiso.
As head of ZAPU Intelligence, Cde Dumiso saw the likes of Cde Alfred Mangena who was the commander of ZAPU’s military wing. In that way, he graduated from an NDP youth of 1960, to the guerrilla of the mid 60’s to the late 70’s.
From then onwards, The Black Russian became an eyesore to the Rhodesian Intelligence as well as military system to the extent that his comrade with whom he had trained, Ethan Dube was abducted in Botswana in about 1973.
The Rhodesians, under the political leadership of the Rhodesia Front [RF] led by Smith, were angry that an African Nationalist movement like ZAPU had gained a combat as well as Intelligence capability. Dumiso was always wanted by his foes.
Many conferences on the independence of Rhodesia came and went by, but the Lancaster House Conference of 1979 was the last.
Cde Dumiso arrived back in Southern Rhodesia, later Zimbabwe, between December 24 and 31, 1979 as part of the first ZPRA Commanders to land at Salisbury, later Harare.
At independence in April 1980, ZANU won the elections and Mugabe became prime minister. His first trusted lieutenants were Lt General Peter Walls, formerly of the Rhodesian Army and Intelligence Chief, Ken Flower.
Both these men had no love for Cde DD, Mugabe included. At independence, the first of Mugabe’s Cabinet had among its members, Joshua Nkomo the President of ZAPU as its Home Affairs minister.
In 1982, some arms caches, allegedly belonging to PF ZAPU, were discovered. That was the genesis of what Mugabe termed “a moment of madness”.
It was a decisive clampdown of PF ZAPU, its military, as well as political personnel, resulting in the incarceration of Dumiso after Zimbabwe had become a sovereign state by contemporary standards.
Cde Dumiso was released in about late, 1986 at the time that the PF ZAPU and ZANU PF unity talks were underway.
It was regrettable that his long-time colleague and comrade, Lookout Masuku died in state custody in about 1986.
In his own words, Dumiso said, “I was bitter after my release as a result of the treatment received under the ZANU PF government. It was Nkomo, the old man Josh who persuaded me to join the ZANU PF government under the unity umbrella.”
Thus, Dabengwa became, for some years, the Home Affairs Minister. On departure from government, he announced the revival of ZAPU and the topic became very contentious.
After the formation of the MDC in about 2000, he seemed to have found some pro –Democratic allies.
At his death he had been continuously agitating for a democratically free and independent Zimbabwe, and he endorsed MDC Alliance president Nelson Chamisa as the presidential candidate for the 2018 elections.
When I last spoke to him at his Harare home, he urged young people to commit themselves to fighting the current economic and political wars, saying supporting the status quo is not an option for young people.
Fare well Cde Dabengwa. Hamba kuhle qhawe lamaqhawe. Sizahlala sikukhumbula.
May his soul rest in peace.
Mlondolozi Ndlovu is a journalist by profession. He writes in his own capacity.
By Own Correspondent- Harare West MDC legislator Joanna Mamombe has been granted a $100 bail by a Harare magistrate.
Mamombe, who is facing charges of violating the electoral act in 2018 is also being accused of providing a false address to the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission before elections last July.
MDC spokesman Jacob Mafume confirmed the development to this publication.
Mamombe, who is also currently on bail after the state accused her of planning to topple President Emmerson Mnangagwa in January following the announcement of fuel price increases which triggered national protests.
The Zimbabwean parliament’s youngest female legislator is accused of treason after she held a press conference where she allegedly incited the masses to engage in the national violence which ensured on January 14 2019 where an unconfirmed number of citizens were shot and killed by state security agents.
Farai Dziva|People’s Progressive Party has accused Zanu PF of “killing the goose that lays golden eggs.”
See the People’s Progressive Party statement:
When Zanu PF is killing the goose that lays the golden eggs , how can investors have trust and confidence in the Zanu PF government , when such a big investment which used to employ thousands of Zimbabweans is now a forest.
“PPPZ” People’s Progressive Party’s No.1 priority is to ensure that we launch massive export projects that create millions of jobs nation-wide and also to introduce 24 HOUR shifts for our farming industry ensuring that we are working day and night in order to bring back all what we have lost for over three (3) decades , because Zanu PF has been a JOKE , we want to create millions of “JOBS” and not Zanu PF slogans , the time of “SLOGANS” is over , SLOGANS don’t feed the nation ; SLOGANS don’t create jobs.
Zimbabwe is in trouble today , the Zanu PF government is bankrupt.
By A Correspondent| Opposition MDC Alliance supporters are living in fear following reports that the police took confidential party records including membership registers when they raided the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC Alliance) headquarters in Harare in the aftermath of the 2018 general elections.
When the police raided Harvest house, scores of party members and employees were arrested while computer hardware were seized in a crackdown against opposition party after protesting against election management body, Zimbabwe Electoral Commission delaying announcing results that declared Zanu PF candidate Emmerson Mnangagwa as the winner.
Police besieged MDC Headquarters armed with a search warrant and confiscated computers containing the party’s confidential files
The police, who were armed with a search warrant suspecting ‘possession of dangerous weapons’, stormed the MDC Alliance headquarters, Harvest House, which resulted in them confiscating computers that had confidential party records.
Opposition members dotted across the country are now living in fear as the police have begun a crackdown on members of the party suspected to be oiling the broken party that had been relying on donations from its members ahead of the July plebiscite that resulted in the death of seven opposition members on August 1st.
Ahead of the 2018 elections, MDC Alliance had appealed for funding to its members dotted across the country.
Those outside the borders including South Africa, Botswana, United Kingdom, United States of America, Norway, Germany and United Arab Emirates have been contributing towards party programmes and campaigns in the run-up to the 2018 elections.
MDC Alliance Secretary for Diaspora, Clifford Hlatywayo accused state security agents of criminalising citizens’ right to join and participate in political activities of their choice.
“Zanu PF is scared of the power of our membership to pull resources together. Their aim is to suffocate us, but we will not allow them to criminalise our members’ right to association,” said Hlatywayo.
In an interview with ZimEye, Allan Mapfumo, who was then based in the United Arab Emirates, said he had a brush with state security agents during his last visit to Zimbabwe.
Mapfumo said he was questioned and had his passport taken to some private office at the airport before he was allowed to leave.
“On the 12th April 2019 I landed at Robert Mugabe Airport and was received by my family. On our way home we noticed two 4×4 black double cab cars trailing us. Along Airport road we stopped expecting cars to proceed but they stopped and blocked our family car, a Subaru,” he said.
This was followed by unregistered vehicles being spotted outside his house until he decided to sneak out of the country fearing for his security.
Tafadzwa Mugwadi, Zanu PF Director of Information, said his party will not lose sleep over claims by opposition supporters who are bent on soiling the image of the country.
“That has been their business, they are always tarnishing the image of the country every time they get an opportunity and we will not lose sleep over such,” said Mugwadi.
Another MDC Alliance party member Yeukai Mariya said her family has been receiving suspicious calls from people asking about her whereabouts.
“My mother called to say she got a call from some lady asking about me, at first I thought the person was one of my old friends but then the calls kept coming from different people and that is when I realized it was something serious,
“My parents went into hiding for some time because some unmarked vehicles were now visiting our house at night. I later received some calls from a Zimbabwean number but the person would just call and remain silent,” said Mariya.
Police spokesperson, Assistant Commissioner Paul Nyathi said they will investigate the allegations.
Farai Dziva|Zimbabweans in the UK will on Saturday hold a memorial service for the late liberation war icon Dumiso Dabengwa.
Ezra Tshisa Sibanda one of the organisers of the event said:
We are calling on all Zimbabweans across the political divide to descend on Luton this coming Saturday.
There will be a memorial service for the late great People’s Champion, iconic son of Zimbabwe, National Hero, The Black Russian, former Zipra Supremo and Zapu President, the one and only Dumiso Dabengwa on Saturday the 1st of June to coincide with his funeral service and burial in Manxeleni, Ntabazinduna.”
” There will be live streaming on big screens for people to watch proceedings from home. Its all happening in Luton this Saturday. Dont miss this important event,”added Sibanda.
Farai Dziva|There was commotion in Parliament when MDC MP for Harare Central Murisi Zwizwai claimed Chegutu West MP Dexter Nduna has the habit of carrying condoms into the Parliament Building.
Nduna had earlier asked the Speaker of Parliament to advise MPs to dress appropriately in line with the code of conduct of the august house.
Nduna said :”Mr Speaker Sir can you please furnish us with information on how to dress appropriately as expected.
I have noticed that Honorable Zwizwai had a hat under his armpit and I don’t think it is proper.”
Zwizwai responded:”Honourable Nduna has the habit of carrying condoms into Parliament is that proper Mr Speaker Sir?”
Zwizwai later withdrew his statement after being asked to do so by the Speaker of Parliament.
Farai Dziva|Opposition MPs today grilled Social Welfare Minister Sekesai Nzenza over politicization of food aid in rural constituencies.
Nzenza dismissed reports of politicization of food aid in the rural areas.
“As far as I am concerned, food aid is being distributed evenly.Do you have the evidence to prove that food is being distributed on partisan basis? If you have the proof please submit the information in writing,” said Nzenza.
Her remarks triggered protests from opposition MPs who accused her of deliberately misrepresenting facts.
“You are deliberately misleading us and I think that is uncalled for- we expect you to be objective,” said Harare Central MP Murisi Zwizwai.
Comedienne Madam Boss who narrowly escaped an early night attack on Monday by suspected hitmen at her Sunridge home is traumatised.
So dire is her situation that she needs counselling and protection from the law as the incident still haunts her.
Madam Boss is now convinced she has become a target of many, including rivals in the game who have been on her neck.
In an interview at her offices, Madam Boss said she is lucky to be alive but reckons her life was under threat.
A complaint was lodged at Mabelreign Police Station.
“I’m still traumatised after last night (Monday)’s drama at my house on my way from town,” she said.
“It all happened in a flash and I don’t know how I survived along with my friends Meme (Mercy Gumbo) and Tsitsi Kachembere who were in the car.
“I was being chauffeured by Mercy Gumbo who happens to be a co-tenant at a complex we are renting.
“Mercy was about to drop me at home after our business meeting around 8pm when the assailants pounced on us.
“What really traaumatised me is that it all happened when I was about to open our gate.”
Madam Boss, who insists she was saved by the Lord, suspects she was the target and the suspected hitmen attacked the rear windscreen targeting where she was seated.
“As I was opening the gate, I had a blast from our parked car, which attracted the attention of neigbours.
“Initially, Mercy and Tsitsi remained quiet maybe in shock but when the rear screen was attacked for the third time, they yelled and the assailants sped off.
“When Mhofela (Madam Boss’s husband) arrived, the assailants had sped off in a black car.
“We lodged a complaint at Mabelreign Police Station but we were told investigation officers had already left and they will only attend to us on Tuesday (yesterday) since it was not an accident,” she said.
Madam Boss, whose cellphone was inundated with calls for the greater part of yesterday, said she was leaving room for investigation.
“As we speak, investigations are currently underway but I take it as a foiled robbery.
“My only fear is my five year-old old daughter who was inside the house with the maid when the incident happened.
“I’m also worried that my friend Mercy’s car was damaged and she had to leave it at my place,” she said.
Outspoken comedienne Mai Titi says her social media war with Madam Boss is now a game of “elimination”.
Mai Titi says she would only stop it once she wins it.
She made the declaration in the wake of the new ‘cold war’ with her rival who narrowly escaped an early night attack on Monday at her house in Sunridge.
“It’s now longer about social media wars but a game of elimination,” said Mai Titi in an interview with H-Metro.
Mai Titi laughed at claims that that she could be the one who masterminded the foiled attack on Monday night.
“One thing you should know is that Tyra Chikocho is a liar and she is actually the one stalking me using ghost accounts on social media.
“Tyra wants to appear as a good person when in actual fact she is the one pestering me on social media.
“For instance, she is now faking an attack to get people’s sympathy,” she said.
Asked why she visited Madam Boss’ residence early Monday before the attempted attack later in the evening, Mai Titi said:
“We stay in the same neighbourhood and I decided to visit her so that we could talk face to face as women and not comedians.
“I had actually sent her a message that I was coming but when I arrived, they told me she had gone to china and I left.
“As for the attack, she faked it and I know that for sure; if I wanted to fight her, I could have done it in person.”
Mai Titi said her followers were also fearing for her life as a result of Madam Boss’ alleged stunts.
“I have been receiving calls as early as 3am with fans asking for my security.
“Some were willing to fight in my corner while others were ready to buy me an air ticket to fly out of Zimbabwe if there was a life-threatening problem.”
Mai Titi urged Madam Boss to be humble and lead a life that she deserves.
“As you know, Madam Boss is a school drop-out and both of us are renting.
“We can’t say we (Madam Boss and Mai Titi) have made it in life but we are simply managing to pay our bills to survive.
“Tyra is a liar and she must learn to be humble and stop stalking me with ghost sounds.
“Tyra ndiye anondidenha ndakanyarara zvangu but when I respond, its fireworks,” she added.
Own Correspondent| A Zimbabwean political activist based in the United Kingdom is battling to have renewal of her asylum with fears that if she is deported authorities in the Zimbabwe will persecute her.
59 year old Molly Ngavaimbe says she left the country in 2000 after heightened persecutions of opposition political activists.
“I left Zimbabwe in 2000 after the political situation deteriorated. I am a member of the MDC branch in London and have participated in various demonstrations organised by the party here” Ngavaimbe said
Knowing well how opposition political activists have been treated by the Zanu PF led Government he fears for her life once she steps in the country. “My fear is that because of my participation in demonstrations as well as being a member of the opposition I will be tormented by state security agents and Zanu PF members” she said
Molly claimed her asylum in April 2008 and now she has applied for renewal with fears that it may be turned down owing to the ‘new administration’ that purports to be open.
A clamp down against opposition and civic society organisation activist is currently underway and recently seven activists have been arrested on allegations of trying to overthrow the government.
According to lawyers, police said the activists had attended a workshop in the Maldives run by a group that trained people “how to mobilise citizens to turn against the government and to engage in acts of civil disobedience”
The arrests came just a few days after the state-owned newspaper, the Herald claimed that Zimbabwean organisations with links to the opposition Movement for Democratic Change-Alliance had in recent months been hard at work laying the groundwork for civil unrest set to be unleashed next month.
Jane Mlambo| The United States government has warned President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s government against harassment and targeted arrests of civil society leaders saying it damages the country’s reputation and economic future.
Posting on Twitter, US Embassy in Harare called on the Zimbabwean government to uphold its constitution and respect rule of law to ensure every citizen can contribute to the nation’s progress.
“Harassment and targeted arrests of civil society leaders damages Zimbabwe’s reputation and economic future. We call on the Zimbabwean government to uphold its constitution, respect rule of law, and foster an environment where all can contribute to the nation’s progress.”
Harassment and targeted arrests of civil society leaders damages Zimbabwe’s reputation and economic future. We call on the Zimbabwean government to uphold its constitution, respect rule of law, and foster an environment where all can contribute to the nation’s progress.
Today, civil society groups under the banner of Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum also urged government to stop criminalising the work of civil society saying it is affecting their activities which are aimed at serving the community.
Jane Mlambo| Civil society organisations under the banner of Human Rights NGO Forum have warned the government against criminalising the work of civil society and human rights defenders amid reports that civic leaders across the country have reported an increase in surveillance, office visits and interruption of their meetings by the state.
According to NGO Forum chairperson Jestina Mukoko, surveillance by the state on civil society organisations has affected their ability to implement their programmes which are meant to address challenges affecting communities.
“Civil society organisations are simply people organising themselves to find solutions to problems affecting their communities, they are not enemies but partners for development,” said Mukoko.
She further urged government to refrain from attacking the dignity of human rights defenders and violating their privacy.
“Stop the crackdown on civil society and human rights defenders,” added Mukoko.
Jane Mlambo| Former head of the Presidential Guard, Anselem Nhamo Sanyatwe and Brigadier General Douglas Nyikayaramba who are believed to be close allies of Vice President Constantino Chiwenga have been deployed as Ambassadors in countries closer to Zimbabwe.
Yesterday, government announced the deployment of Ambassadors to various countries but it is the retired military men’s deployment which raises more questions than answers.
Sanyatwe, now a Lieutenant-General, is set to take up his new role as Zimbabwe’s ambassador to Tanzania while Nyikayaramba will be in Mozambique.
In February this year, President Emmerson Mnangagwa retired four senior army commanders, among them Sanyatwe, and deployed them to the Foreign Affairs ministry.
However, circumstances surrounding the redeployment were a subject of speculation following allegations of a fall-out between Mnangagwa and Vice-President Constantino Chiwenga over the top commanders’ retirement.
Sanyatwe yesterday thanked his troops for standing with him and for being a disciplined force.
“I am very pleased this morning and I feel greatly humbled to stand before you officers, men and women of this formation to officially hand over the brigade to Brigadier-General Fidelis Mhonda; a brigade, Presidential Guard brigade, that is intact, formidable, highly trained and loyal to the Commander-in-Chief and our great nation as a whole as per all the standards expected of the guards,” he said.
By Allan Cowell|Dumiso Dabengwa, a Moscow-trained intelligence supremo and insurgent leader in Zimbabwe’s liberation war, whose fortunes tracked Cold War rivalries and the political and ethnic score-settling that followed independence from Britain, died on Thursday in Kenya. He was 79.
His family reported his death and said it occurred as he was on his way back to Zimbabwe from India, where he had been treated for an unspecified liver ailment.
Such was Mr. Dabengwa’s feared reputation among the white minority of Zimbabwe, the former Rhodesia, that he earned the sobriquet “the Black Russian,” because of his close ties to the Soviet Union, where he underwent training by the K.G.B. in the 1960s.
Yet, when the seven-year bush war ended shortly before independence in 1980, he played a persuasive role in trying to unite the rival guerrilla armies that had fought white minority rule: his own Zimbabwe People’s Revolutionary Army, or Zipra, which was loyal to Joshua Nkomo, and the Zimbabwe African National Liberation Army, or Zanla, which fought in the name of Robert Mugabe. Mr. Mugabe would go on to rule Zimbabwe, ever more autocratically, for more than three decades, until he was deposed in a military coup in 2017.
A photograph from the independence era showed the bearded Mr. Dabengwa in military camouflage fatigues alongside Rex Nhongo, the nom de guerre of Solomon Mujuru, the ranking Zanla commander, as the two rivals joined with their former white adversaries in the effort to create a unified national army.
When fighting between their two armies broke out in late 1980, claiming some 60 lives, the two men traveled together to the township of Entumbane in southwestern Zimbabwe to pry the combatants apart.
But the gesture was not enough to prevent a further conflagration in February 1981, when some 300 former guerrillas were killed in Entumbane, in an uprising that Mr. Mugabe put down by deploying white-led military units that had once fought to resist majority rule.
Bloody though the fighting had been, it was little more than a prelude to far more widespread violence when Mr. Mugabe ordered his North Korean-trained Fifth Brigade to sweep through Matabeleland — the Ndebele heartland in southwestern Zimbabwe — ostensibly to seek out so-called dissidents loyal to Mr. Nkomo. Thousands of people died in massacres that have stained the country’s collective memory to this day.
At the time of the killings, Mr. Mugabe’s intelligence chief was Emmerson Mnangagwa, the same person who emerged from the 2017 coup as Zimbabwe’s president and who offered a glowing eulogy to Mr. Dabengwa after his death. On Sunday, the authorities in Harare, the capital, declared Mr. Dabengwa a national hero.
The patterns of intolerance under Mr. Mugabe had emerged early. Much of the animosity lay in the enduring distinctions between the majority Shona people, who supported Mr. Mugabe, and the minority Ndebele people, who backed Mr. Nkomo.
Mr. Dabengwa’s experiences offered a template for the blend of repression, cunning and co-option that enabled Mr. Mugabe to hold power for so long.
Three years into independence, Mr. Dabengwa and Zipra’s military commander, Lt. Gen. Lookout Masuku, were tried on treason charges after the discovery of what the authorities said was an arms cache. Mr. Dabengwa was also charged with seeking to maintain close ties to the K.G.B.
When he and General Masuku were acquitted, they were immediately rearrested under emergency powers dating to the era of white minority rule.
General Masuku died in 1986 shortly after his transfer to a hospital from prison, and Mr. Dabengwa was freed under an uneven unity agreement between Mr. Mugabe and Mr. Nkomo in 1987. Mr. Dabengwa went on to serve as home affairs minister from 1992 to 2000. But in 2008 he withdrew from the unity pact to revive the party that was once led by Mr. Nkomo, the Zimbabwe African People’s Union, or ZAPU.
For all he had fought for independence, Mr. Dabengwa’s spell as an official in Mr. Mugabe’s government earned him a place on the list of Zimbabwean leaders subject to United States economic sanctions, accused of undermining Zimbabwe’s democracy.
To the end, he remained unforgiving toward Mr. Mugabe, insisting that the government formally accept responsibility for the Matabeleland slaughter in the 1980s, apologize to relatives of the victims and compensate them for their losses.
“Until this matter is resolved,” he told Michael Holman, a visiting British journalist, in 2018, “Zimbabwe will be a divided country.”
Dumiso Dabengwa was born on Dec. 6, 1939, the son of Mahliki and Mavakatsha Dabengwa. With his wife, Zodwa Khumalo, his children included a daughter Ijeoma, who was also listed by the United States Treasury as subject to sanctions. The official ZAPU website said the couple had two children, but news reports put the figure at five.
Mr. Dabengwa was educated at local schools and went on to work for the city council in Bulawayo, the main city in Matabeleland, and at a branch of Barclays Bank there. At a time when resentment of colonial inequities was building across Africa, he once complained that less qualified white employees at the bank earned twice the amount he did for doing less work.
His active opposition to minority rule dated to the late 1950s, when he led other Zimbabweans in a campaign of civil resistance that earned him a spell in prison. His role as an underground activist and saboteur led him to Moscow in the early 1960s for training as he sought to build what he called “the vanguard of a guerrilla army” to fight white minority rule.
At that time, superpower rivalries between East and West meant that “we were used as pawns in Africa’s entire decolonization process,” Mr. Dabengwa wrote in a paper in 2015. A rift between the Soviet Union and China meant that some liberation movements, including ZAPU and Nelson Mandela’s African National Congress, won Moscow’s backing while others, including Mr. Mugabe’s Zimbabwe African National Union, or ZANU, were supported mainly by China.
Mr. Dabengwa returned to newly independent Zambia, Zimbabwe’s northern neighbor, in late 1964. Zambia, like other so-called frontline states, played a central role in offering rear bases to guerrilla fighters from across the region.
In the late 1960s, indeed, joint units from Mr. Dabengwa’s Zipra and the African National Congress’s military wing sought to infiltrate what was then called Rhodesia by crossing the Zambezi River and fighting some of the earliest battles for independence. The war intensified from 1972 onward, with the rival guerrilla armies fighting in separate areas, from separate rear-bases and with separate command structures and strategies.
While Mr. Mugabe’s guerrillas fought a largely rural campaign modeled on Maoist principles, Zipra planned to set up semiliberated zones from which to “eventually liberate and occupy the major cities of the country,” Mr. Dabengwa wrote.
In 1979, however, talks at Lancaster House in London produced a peace deal that ended the bush war, though not the animosities that it had spawned between the rival claimants to the spoils of victory. When Zimbabwe held elections in 2018, Mr. Dabengwa pointedly supported those who opposed Mr. Mugabe’s successor.
A version of this article appears in print on May 28, 2019, on Page A24 of the New York edition with the headline: Dumiso Dabengwa, 79, Insurgent Leader Who Fought Minority Rule in Zimbabwe.
Julius Malema, the firebrand leader of South Africa’s Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF)
A shocking new report has linked EFF leader Julius Malema and his deputy Floyd Shivambu to the alleged theft of R4m from VBS Bank.
According to Daily Maverick, money stolen from VBS Mutual Bank funded the EFF’s fourth birthday bash held at a popular party venue in Umlazi, Durban, in July 2017.
It is said that this forms part of a portion of the illegal R16.1m Brian Shivambu’s company Sgameka Projects received from VBS that was directed towards to the EFF.
In a strategy designed to hide the origin and ultimate beneficiaries of the funds, VBS money flowed through companies over which Julius Malema and Floyd Shivambu have ultimate control.
The bank collapsed in October 2018, after nearly R3 billion of its funds were stolen by “corrupt” beneficiaries linked to the EFF.
The extensive research – carried out by journalist Pauli van Wyk for the Daily Maverick – has revealed that the party exhausted more than R4 million of the VBS to pay for party venues, t-shirts and office rentals in Johannesburg.
According to the report, all in all, the EFF benefited from at least R4.13-million through myriad channels. Of this total amount, Scorpio traced about R1.5-million in VBS loot which was paid directly into two EFF bank accounts. Another R454,000 was deposited directly into the bank account of popular party venue Eyadini Lounge in Umlazi (KwaZulu-Natal), paying for the EFF’s fourth birthday party in July 2017.
In an interview with Eusebius Mckaiser on 702 Talk Radio, Malema denied that any VBS money flowed through the EFF. “No VBS-money has flowed into our coffers”, EFF president Julius Malema pledged on 18 April 2019.
HON. T. MLISWA: On a point of order! Thank you very much Madam Speaker. You will recall that when the Hon. Speaker Jacob Mudenda was in your Chair, the issue of a minute of silence to observe the late Dumiso Dabengwa was brought up. The Speaker ruled that it cannot be so until the family speaks and that the Government too must issue a statement. However, those two issues have been done. Madam Speaker, I say so because my father was ZAPU, he was in Zambia, we grew up with him, S. K. Moyo and Mutinhiri. This is a serious issue which deserves that, not only was he a war veteran but he was a Member of this House too. He was a Member of this House of Assembly and all of us will die one day. It is only important that when one of us dies, even if you do not recognise his hero status but let us recognise that one of our Parliamentarians is no more.
There is a rift, the failure for this Parliament to comply to what it says, will create problems which are unforeseen. The aspect of the tribal card will be raised and we do not want that. Therefore, Madam Speaker, with your indulgence; seek for a minute of silence to be observed because the two issues, the Speaker spoke about have been met. We are putting the President in a very difficult situation. He was a Member of this House and why can we not give him the respect that he deserves –[HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible interjections.]
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAEKR: Order, Hon. Members. I think we must all know, as from today that we do not observe a minute of silence on National Heroes if they are not Members of Parliament – [HON. MEMBERS: Inaudible Interjections.] –
HON. T. MLISWA: So, Madam Speaker, if your ruling is that we do not observe that, how come the Speaker did not highlight on that on that day. The Hon. Jacob Mudenda did not say that we cannot observe. We have got to be consistent as a Parliament. Hon. Mudenda did not say that. Why do you hate ZAPU people? We have to be consistent as Parliament. VaMudenda havana kuti hati observi, vakati mhuri neGovernment. Ndozvakataurwaka. Ko imimi vanhu veZIPRA indaa muchivenga vamwe vanhu zvakadaro – [HON. MEMBERS:Inaudible interjections.] – Madam Speaker, the Speaker did not say that– [HON. MEMBERS:Inaudible interjections.] –
THE HON. DEPUTY SPEAKER: Order, Hon. Mliswa can you approach the Chair.
Hon. T. Mliswa approached the Chair.
HON. T. MLISWA: Madam Speaker, with your wise counsel together with the Clerk that I just received, I do hear what you said that the Speaker did not say it but if that is the rule of Parliament, I am bound by the rules of Parliament. Thank you.
Businesstech S.A.|The South African Department of Home Affairs has published its first directive for 2019, aiming to clamp down on foreigners working in the country on ‘business trip’ visas.
According to Marisa Jacobs, director at Xpatweb, the directive clarifies that Section 11(2) visas are not to be used continuously and are specifically to allow for ‘short term project resources in South Africa’.
“The issuing of this directive indicates a common misuse of the visa category by employers where they are making use of the relaxed nature of visa requirements of this category to bring resources into South Africa and then continuously extending or applying for new visas when they should, in fact, be pursuing a long term work visa,” she said.
“The directive now sets out clearly that the visa may only be applied for once in a calendar year and only extended once for a period not exceeding three months. The maximum period is thus six months.”
Misrepresentation
According to Jacobs, there is a broad misrepresentation by business travellers – especially those travelling from visa exempt countries – who enter South Africa on a holiday/business visa while in fact conducting work in South Africa.
“When an employee comes to render employment services in South Africa, make sure they get a valid short-term work visa,” she said.
“Do not take a chance and tell the immigration official this is only a business trip, when the purpose is work.
“It is easy to be compliant and not worth the risk. The process takes 5 – 10 working days and the short-term visa is issued for three months and may be extended in South Africa for a further three months.”
Consequences of working on a Business Visa
Where an expatriate is found on your premises conducting work without the necessary authorisation on their visa to conduct such work, the Immigration Act clearly sets out the implications for both the expatriate and the employer, said Jacobs.
This includes arrest and deportation for the foreign national and a fine and/or arrest for the employer depending on the offence, she said.
“The issuing of the above directive points to a more vigilant Department with their eye on individuals and businesses who do not comply with the conditions of their visas.
“This is a good time to ensure all employees are compliant and your organisation is in the green.”
Zimbabwe Mail|WARSHIP Dumba, leader of a disgruntled group of former MDC activists fiercely opposed to current leader Nelson Chamisa’s leadership, has urged ex-MDC secretary general Douglas Mwonzora to call for a party extra-ordinary congress which will choose leaders of the main opposition as directed by the High Court recently.
In her ruling, Justice Edith Mushore declared as invalid, Chamisa’s leadership of MDC, his initial appointment 2016 by then party president Morgan Tsvangirai (now late) as co-vice president and decisions Chamisa went on to make in his capacity as party leader.
Purportedly speaking on behalf of the Thokozani Khupe led MDC, Dumba, who fronts the group that calls itself In Defence of Morgan Tsvangirai Legacy (DMTL), said the party has set 27 July as the date for the extra-ordinary congress ordered by the High Court.
“Chamisa is corrupt, violent and his lawless cabal and we congratulate them for forming their new party,” Dumba said while referring to the just ended MDC congress that reinstalled the 41-year-old politician as substantive party leader.
In her recent ruling, Justice Mushore ordered MDC to revert back to its 2014 structures and call for an extra-ordinary congress as per party constitution to properly choose Tsvangirai’s replacement, among other positions.
This was after a Gokwe based MDC activist went to court to challenge the manner in which Chamisa rose to the helm of the MDC on the news of then Tsvangirai’s death February last year.
Chamisa has since filed an appeal against the ruling and went on to proceed with his elective congress which installed him as party leader.
Dumba poured scorn on the MDC congress saying they now expected their secretary general Douglas Mwonzora to start activating processes that will lead to the extra-ordinary congress as ordered by the courts.
“The 2014 MDC-T structures met 23rd May and agreed on a provisional date and that we should go back and mobilise our supporters about the extra ordinary congress,” said Dumba.
“We are following the High Court ruling early this month and we will not be stopped by any illegal activity that followed thereafter such as the Nelson Chamisa led meeting he had in Gweru over the weekend.
“We are still deliberating on the venue.”
Dumba said Mwonzora, the party secretary general elected 2014, was obliged to follow the court ruling.
“Mwonzora is a respected lawyer and our secretary general and we expect him to start the process,” Dumba said of a party politician who lost his bid to be re-elected secretary general of the Chamisa led MDC.
“The fact that he attended a gathering in Gweru, it was a gathering of MDC-Alliance, which contested in last year’s general elections, and probably they had something to discuss there.
“No amount of arrogance from those who have chosen dictatorship will stop us from doing what is right.
“Letting Chamisa and his cabal get away with it would prove to be a very bad precedence in future for our beautiful country.”
Nineteen-year-old Classmore Tsiga and his friends scavenge for food from the municipal skip.
IOL|“This municipal bin is our soup kitchen”
Seven Zimbabwean teenagers have been living under a big tree near Shoprite in Louis Trichardt, Limpopo, for almost a year, scavenging for food from a nearby skip.
The boys, aged 15 to 19, sleep under the tree on one torn mattress, sharing two blankets. They wake up at 6am and pack their blankets and clothes into a big white bag and hang it in the tree for safety. When it rains they move to the verandah of the nearby shops at night.
During the day they go out looking for work and food, begging from passers-by or picking up leftover food thrown into the municipal skip nearby. They have no plates or pots and do not cook.
They bath once or twice a week at a nearby stream and use the public toilets nearby.
“This place is convenient for us because toilets are near, the big municipal bin where people throw away leftover food is here, and a lot of people pass through this place. Some of them donate clothes or food,” says 19-year-old Classmore Tsiga.
“This is our home but we also wish to be under a roof one day.”
Putting a brave face on it, Tsiga said, “This municipal bin is our soup kitchen. No one has fallen sick from eating leftover food from the bin. God is great.”
Explaining how he came to Louis Trichardt from Rusape in Zimbabwe, Tsiga said: “Life was very difficult at home. My unemployed parents could not afford school fees so I dropped out in grade five.”
“My sister who left for Johannesburg in 2018 advised me to follow her. In Beitbridge I was mugged. They got away with R200 meant for transport from Beitbridge to Johannesburg. My sister, who is doing odd jobs, could no longer afford the transport cost,” he said.
He did odd jobs in Beitbridge and managed to save money to get as far as Louis Trichardt. “My aim was to join my sister but it is taking time. I do not regularly get hired for work.”
The teenagers store their few belongings in the tree.
Tsiga says he is good at baking. “I wish there was someone who could hire me for baking because it’s my passion. I used to do it back home,” he says.
Tapiwa Sibanda, 15, from Mwenezi says both his parents died when he was very young and he was sent to look after his grandfather’s cattle. He dropped out of school at the age of 9.
“My aim is to raise money for school fees then I can go back to school, but it seems impossible,” says Sibanda.
John Tambire,17, from Masvingo decided to come to South Africa so as not to be a burden on his grandmother after his mother remarried. He saved R200 from odd jobs in Zimbabwe which he used for transport to Louis Trichardt.
“I was among the eight grandchildren under the care of this grandmother. I thought it wise to fend for myself,” says Tambire.
He hopes one day to be able to help his grandmother look after the other children.
File Picture of a Zimbabwean soldier shooting at protesters in Harare in August last year.
Own Correspondent|Social media is this morning abuzz with a message doing rounds calling on the citizens to engage on a National Shut Down this Thursday.
The message whose origin is not yet known is attracting massive attention from social media users who appear to be taking serious hid to the call.
Prices of most commodities including petrol nearly doubled on Wednesday prompting a massive out cry from the citizens.
Bread shot up from a average of $3.20 to a whopping $6.00 in some shops according to ZimEye.com readers. Fuel is selling for as high as $7.69 for petrol and $7.30 diesel at some filling stations where it is available.
In the black market where it is flooded, petrol is selling for up to $100 for five litres.
Below is the social media message that is getting a lot of attention from citizens:
NATIONAL. SHUTDOWN.
Thursday 30 May 2019
Fellow Zimbabweans and comrades, it is evident that our nation is in a sorry state and ED and his government are feasting on our misery.
Prices for basic commodities have sky rocketed beyond the reach of many of us.
Its so sad seeing fathers and mothers queing for Zupco for hours hoping it will arrive.
Its so sad our parents took care of us but now even though we want to we cant return the favour.
Fuel $8 per litre
With this pace do you think you are going to live any inheritance for your children.
We have tried the patience route it has not worked.
The peace route will never work
Now we are a laughing stock as Zimbabweans are being labelled educated fools, people that cant stand for themselves, men that are afraid to fight for the future of their children.
We are saying enough is enough. On Thursday 30 May 2019, We are shutting down this nation. -STAY AT HOME AND INDOORS THIS IS A WARNING -NO ONE SHOULD BE SEEN GOING TO WORK YOU WILL BE PUNISHED SEVERELY AS WE WILL CONSIDER YOU AN ENEMY OF THE STRUGGLE. -IF WE SEE YOU DRIVING FOR WHATSOEVER REASON WE WILL STONE YOUR VEHICLE -SHOP OWNERS BE WARNED DO NOT OPEN WE WILL BURN YOUR SHOPS… -DO NOT LET YOUR CHILDREN GO TO SCHOOL -THIS TIME WE ARE NOT AFRAID OF THE ARMY WE ARE READY FOR THEM -BLOOD WILL BE SHED ON THURSDAY
STAY AWAY ON THURSDAY
MNANGAGWA AND HIS GOVERNMENT MUST GO!!!!
LETS FOWARD THIS AND WARN OUR FAMILIES AND LOVED ONES
Farai Dziva|Harare West MP Joana Mamombe has been arrested again.
According to seasoned journalist Hopewell Chin’ono, Mamombe is detained at Harare Central Police Station.
The reason for the arrest is still unclear.However Mamombe was arrested earlier this year on trumped up charges of inciting violence.
“Harare West MP Joana Mamombe arrested and detained at Harare Central Police. The MDC should not be tempted to react with any action except legal. This failing government wants exactly that. These arrests of opposition and civil society are further exposing government fo what it is,” tweeted Chin’ono.
Own Correspondent|ZimEye.com readers have indicated that bread in some parts of the country this morning shot up to $5.60.
Below is picture evidence of the new bread price provided by the sources:
This is a developing story and ZimEye.com is inviting more readers who have encountered this increase to send through details including pictures of till slips showing the new price.
FINANCE Minister, Mthuli Ncube says government is reluctant to hike power tariffs, but it may consider a commodity linked tariff for mines.
Appearing before the parliamentary committee on Budget and Finance, Ncube told legislators that a tariff increase was highly untenable in the current environment and would only add to inflationary pressures.
“The pressure from Zesa has been to increase the tariff but we have been reluctant to do that. We should hold that back otherwise we would have to add other subsidies to lower that. We are looking at other options. For instance companies that export say in the mining sector their tariff should be linked to the price of the commodity that they export. So there is need for some innovation in terms of pricing models from the Minister of Energy,” Ncube said.
“We are hoping that the re-bundling of Zesa into one entity begins to bear fruit then we can squeeze out the efficiencies which should translate to manageable rates. By addressing the efficiencies within Zesa we can reduce the inflationary impact of what we are seeing on the rates so we do not have to increase rates to cover up for those inefficiencies but rather put in place strategies for making the company more efficient.”
Power utility, Zesa, has been calling for a review of electricity tariffs by as much as 30% to reflect the rise in production costs following the progressive devaluation of the local currency since February.Newsday
NewsDay|FORMER Information deputy minister Bright Matonga appeared in court yesterday facing charges of duping a Malawian national of US$10 000 in a botched deal to supply demonetised Zimbabwe trillion dollar notes.
Matonga (51), who is jointly charged with Onesmo Ndoro (47), appeared before Harare magistrate Barbara Mateko, who remanded them to June 27 on $300 bail each.
The complainant in the matter is Kelvin Chipeta, who is based in South Africa.
Matonga is denying the allegations, saying he did not receive any money from the complainant.
The former minister was, however, placed on remand by consensus after his lawyers Musekiwa Mbanje and Lucky Dube had insisted that their client could not be placed on remand in the absence of the complainant. The complainant is believed to have skipped the border after he overstayed his permit in the country.
Allegations are that sometime in March this year, Chipeta was requested by a United States company to acquire demonetised Zimbabwean trillion dollars notes. Chipeta then contacted Matonga through a social media platform and enquired whether he was able to supply the notes.
It is alleged that Matonga referred Chipeta to Ndoro who is licenced to deal in the notes in Zimbabwe.
The State avers that both parties agreed that Ndoro would supply 3 000 Zimbabwean trillion dollar notes for $10 000. Chipeta and his unnamed partner immediately travelled to Zimbabwe with $10 000 which they declared with the immigration officials.
Matonga and Ndoro then received Chipeta and his partner at Robert Gabriel Mugabe International Airport and went to a restaurant in Alexandra Park where they were to seal the deal.
Chipeta allegedly handed over US$10 000 to Ndoro, who later counted the money with Matonga. And after counting the money, Ndoro allegedly walked out of the restaurant to ostensibly collect the Zimbabwe trillion dollar notes.
Chipeta and his partner were left seated with Matonga as they waited for Ndoro to return, but he never came back. It is said they tried to call him, but could not get through.
Matonga allegedly kept on reassuring the complainant that Ndoro would return, but to no avail.
Dumiso Dabengwa introducing his colleague war veterans to the MDC leadership at an MDC rally in Bulawayo last year.
Own Correspondent|Zapu spokesperson Iphithile Maphosa has emotionally called on mourners who will attend National Hero and liberation war stalwart Dumiso Dabengwa’s Memorial Service and burial to only wear ZAPU regalia.
Speaking in a interview Maphosa said in honour of Dabengwa, only Zapu regalia should be worn at his funeral wake and burial.
“We anticipate to lay our greatest hero to rest on Saturday, June 1 at Manxeleni in Ntabazinduna, about 30 kilometres from Bulawayo. We welcome everyone’s continued support as we all celebrate the life of the finest citizen to ever come out of southern Africa, a friend to all and a father to the orphaned,” he said.
“We, however, would like to advise our friends who will be coming to mourn with us to respect Cde DD and everything that he stood for. President Dabengwa was Zapu in blood, thought and in deeds. Throughout his life he was a principled cadre of the Zapu ideology and teachings. In as much as we welcome all Zimbabweans at the celebration of our father, we will appreciate it if only Zapu regalia be conspicuous at his funeral and burial.”
Maphosa’s sentiments come amid revelations that firebrand MDC President Nelson Chamisa will attend the two high profile events and as is norm, thousands of his MDC followers will accompany him to the events and definitely dressed in MDC regalia.
Chamisa was incidentally publicly endorsed by Dabengwa as the future leader of the country in an MDC rally in Bulawayo just a few days before the highly contested elections in July last year.
Dumiso Dabengwa at the MDC rally with Nelson Chamisa
MDC supporters known for who their are about their President and the party are expected to have their red regalia completely overshadow the yellow ZAPU regalia which Maphosa is inviting to dominate the gatherings.
POLICE Commissioner-General Godwin Matanga yesterday said police officers should be professional and non-partisan as the organisation moves towards rebranding its image.
Comm-Gen Matanga made the remarks in a speech read on his behalf by the Deputy Commissioner General (Human Resources) Elliot Mind Ngirandi during the opening of the rebranding and refresher training courses for 64 senior police officers from Midlands and Masvingo provinces at the police’s Ntabazinduna Depot in Matabeleland North.
He said professionalism and honesty in the interests of national cohesion and protection of citizens helps the police rebrand their image that has been tarnished in recent years.
“Without doubt, the image of the Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP) has been tainted in the recent past while the organisation has been viewed by the general public with a lot of disdain. In this regard the organisation has seen it fit to rebrand in order to improve its image and public perception.
“Rebranding demands all of us to be professional, non-partisan, sober-minded, remain highly dedicated, accountable, learn under public scrutiny and selflessly serve the nation,” he said.
The police boss said the ZRP is in the process of rebranding into a modern force that fits within the country’s developmental goals of transforming the country into an upper middle income economy by 2030. He said cops should listen to concerns from members of the public to improve policing. Comm Gen Matanga said police professionalism should make Zimbabwe a safe investment destination.State media
NATIONAL hero Dr Dumiso Dabengwa’s family and the Dumiso Dabengwa Foundation (DDF) have opened a condolence messages book in honour of the liberation icon which members of the public will sign.
MDC Treasurer General David Coltart, Bulawayo Mayor Councillor Solomon Mguni Zanu-PF spokesperson Simon Khaya-Moyo, Bulawayo Minister of State Judith Ncube and several other high ranking public figures already signed the book at Dr Dabengwa’s residence in Fourwinds suburb, Bulawayo, yesterday.
Dr Dabengwa died on Thursday in Kenya, Nairobi while on his way to Zimbabwe from India where he had been taken for medical treatment. He died aged 79 following a liver-related ailment that started last year in November.
DDF director and legacy manager Mthulisi Hanana said the book will be available for the public in five cities worldwide today.
“The family working with the DDF have launched a Dr Dumiso Dabengwa condolence messages book. The book will be availed to the public to record the memories they had with Dr Dabengwa. One of the books will be here in his house (Fourwinds suburb) where mourners are gathered while another will be placed somewhere near Joshua Mqabuko Nkomo Statue in the city centre. Another will be placed in Harare, another in Gauteng Province, South Africa, another in London, Britain, and the last one will be in New York, America,” said Mr Hanana.
He said specific information of where the books will be placed for public signing in areas outside Bulawayo will be availed on the DDF website and their Twitter handle @DDabengwaFdn.
Condolence messages continued to pour in yesterday with several eminent people visiting the family’s residence.
Speaking at the family home on behalf of President Emmerson Mnangagwa, who has snubbed Dabengwa’s burial, ZANU PF spokesperson Khaya Moyo said Dabengwa was the greatest revolutionary for Zimbabwe.
“He was one of the greatest revolutionaries, very principled, very focused, a man of purpose, a man of destiny. He never had time for gossip; neither did he believe in any existence of a tribe and region or race. To him humanity was supreme. He was a man who was very humble but very deep in thinking. A mentor to many revolutionaries and freedom fighters. If it wasn’t for the role he played during the liberation struggle as our intelligence supremo we would have gone into a number of disasters because of the viciousness of the enemy,” said Khaya-Moyo.
He also paid tribute to his family, particularly his wife Mrs Zodwa Dabengwa for remaining strong even during the sad departure of her husband.
“I must say I salute his wife Zodwa, she is very strong, because when he passed on she was virtually alone in a foreign land and I’ve just seen her now at home and I can tell that his attributes, the late Dumiso Dabengwa’s attributes also filtered into her because she is very very strong. The entire family is also showing signs of bravery because there are not many who can stand such a storm,” he said.
“It is a storm because we can never have a man of his calibre in terms of service to humanity who never at any stage hated other people, he was hated himself by other people but he never retaliated.”
Also, at the family residence was Bulawayo Mayor Councillor Solomon Mguni who revealed that in honour of Dr Dabengwa the council has shifted the city’s 125th anniversary celebrations which were set for Saturday, June 1 to Monday, June 4.
“As the City of Bulawayo we also mourn with the Dabengwa family following the death of the liberation icon. We also remember him for the contributions he made for the development of Bulawayo, particularly the Matabeleland Zambezi Water Project. We hoped the project would be completed in his lifetime but since he is gone we hope it will be completed in our lifetime,” said Clr Mguni.
He said Dr Dabengwa’s family, his foundation and party Zapu among members of the public should find ways of immortalising Dr Dabengwa’s works and the council will support their initiatives.
Clr Mguni said council cannot impose a way of honouring Dr Dabengwa, but will consider proposals made by the residents.
By Farai D Hove| ZimEye is today doing a review of the security situation in the country. This comes amid several scenes of soldiers and police officers seen roaming the streets of Harare. The incidents sparked fears and speculation of a coup, just as rumours went viral that ZANU PF President Emmerson Mnangagwa has agreed to resign.
As at 7am Harare time, Wednesday, soldiers armed with AK rifles were seen roaming in the streets of Mufakose, Kuwadzana, Dzivarasekwa and other parts of the capital city. The last time there was such military presence was during the January 2019 state violence incidents during which Emmerson Mnangagwa’s in law relative, the former Deputy Finance Minister Terence Mukupe claimed there was a military attempt to remove Mnangagwa as state President.
This time and as of last week Friday, Mukupe had taken to Twitter to warn against a military plot.
“You can’t employ the same strategy twice. Good luck to you daydreamers. We will respond in kind,” Mukupe said.
He was referring to the 2017 coup which removed former President Robert Mugabe and got Mnangagwa into power.
Mukupe added to his tweet a looping video of the then coup spokesman, Major General Sibusiso Moyo speaking in a Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation (ZBC) broadcast announcing the army’s intervention on November 15, 2017, saying : “The situation in our country has moved to another level.”
Meanwhile, on Wednesday morning there were several WhatsApp messages making claim that there was a coup happening. ZimEye was at pains to obtain a comment from the military spokesperson and at the time of writing none had been obtained.
Own Correspondent|State media on Wednesday morning woke up to screaming headlines that the newly-elected MDC Treasurer General David Coltart says opposition leader Mr Nelson Chamisa has no capacity to turn around the country’s economy “in months”, even if he were to become President “tomorrow”.
According to the media Coltart said that the opposition party was not in a position to convince the electorate to vote for it, an extremely far fetched reporting by the media that has failed to find anything positive from the just ended highly successful MDC congress where Coltart is said to have raised the comment.
Actually, Coltart is quoted by independent newspapers having indicated that once the MDC government comes into power it will introduce economic policies that will gradually clean the mess of of over forty years that the ZANU PF government has created in the country.
“If Nelson Chamisa became President of Zimbabwe tomorrow, he would not be able to turn around the fortunes of Zimbabwe in a day, in weeks, in a few months.
“The problems in our nation are deep rooted and are gonna take a lot of determination . . .” Coltart is quoted as having said by the private media.
Coltart in the interview with the private media never hinted that the MDC can not convince the electorate to vote for it but, said that the new MDC leadership will turn around the running of the party so much that it will make the electorate have a belief that the party can run the country even better.
He said: “. . . we cannot say to the electorate, now I am talking way beyond the members here, I am talking about the rank and file who are not members of the MDC; we cannot say to them that we are qualified to run the country well if we can’t run our own party well.
“This is the starting point. That’s the challenge that we have in the next few years before the next elections. We have to show that we can run this party well, far more efficiently than it has been run. And then if we do that, not only are we going to energise our members and mobilise our members, but we can then demonstrate to the broader electorate that we are competent and capable to run this country . . .”
By A Correspondent| The owner of a phonenumber seen in a circulating WhatsApp message that says soldiers have mounted guard in Harare, has disowned the rumour.
Speaking to ZimEye Wednesday morning, the man who would not comment further, said he did not at all send out the report.
He hung his phone up soon after dismissing the report.
He was speaking to ZimEye via a direct phone call, not the usual WhatsApp call platform which most Zimbabweans feel safe communicating on.
He told ZimEye, “Haa, ndezvekunyepa – haa, it is all lies,” he said.
He was asked to comment on how it is that his number was used and to this he replied saying, “Vanga vachiforwadhirana forwadhirana, but hapana apa – they were just forwarding each other but nothing like that is happening,” he added.
The unedited WhatsApp message reads in full:
“[28/05, 20:20] [*NUMBER REDACTED]: Maswera sei Hama mangwana zvogona kuipa nezvenyika!!kubva Makoni ndakwira 4 kuuya manyme park machipisa 8 apaa Makoni mapurisa adirwa hobho mumaside mefance makachera makomba anokwana Munhu akabata pfuti zvenguva yehondo zviya ndazoona ndadzika kombi pa st Mary turn of pakazaraa masoja nepuma vamwe vakafararira soo beware for tumoro Hama??
[28/05, 20:20] [05/28, 15:55] +263 71 [*NUMBER REDACTED]: Military at Presidential guard Dz camp roadblock pane zvirikuitika amheno chii?? [05/28, 15:55] +263 71 883 9637 [*NUMBER REDACTED]: Yaaa guys gwarirai military state kuMufakose mugomo rekuna Dekkar ku Zfc kwaiswa tent yeMasoja.”
ZimEye was at pains to obtain a comment from the Zimbabwe Defence Forces and none had been availed at the time of writing.
Meanwhile, the rumour was somewhat made strong by claims by Former Deputy Minister of Finance Terence Mukupe who last week posted a video of two former soldiers who performed the November 2017 coup, saying people who want to remove Emmerson Mnangagwa from power are daydreaming.
On Friday Mukupe claimed the operation would be futile.
“You can’t employ the same strategy twice. Good luck to you daydreamers. We will respond in kind,” Mukupe tweeted referring to the 2017 coup that saw Emmerson Mnangagwa assuming power.
Nelson Chamisa with the late ZAPU leader and liberation war stalwart Dumiso Dabengwa
Own Correspondent|Opposition MDC leader Nelson Chamisa will this weekend attend both the massive memorial service and burial of the late ZAPU leader and liberation war stalwart Dumiso Dabengwa.
MDC Treasurer General David Coltart told mourners at the Dabengwa home in Fourwinds, Bulawayo, that the newly endorsed opposition leader will attend the two events in recognition of the huge contribution Dabengwa made to the liberation of the country and fight for democracy after independence.
Thousands of people are expected to flood White City Stadium on Friday for a memorial service that will start at 9am and expected to end at 4pm. Dabengwa who was declared a National Hero, will then be buried at his rural home in Ntabazinduna on Saturday.
President Emmerson Mnangagwa has confirmed that he will not be taking part in any of the activities around Dabengwa assigning Vice President Kembo Mohadi to stand for him throughout the mourning and burial.
Mnangagwa would definitely have got himself hugely embarrassed by the people of Matabeleland who will dominate the proceedings. The Matabeleland region accuses Mnangagwa of joining hands with former President Robert Mugabe to torment Dabengwa by unlawfully imprisoning him for five years after the courts had cleared him of treason charges.
Meanwhile, the City of Bulawayo has postponed its 125th years celebrations that were set for this weekend to allow for the memorial service and burial of Dabengwa.
The mayor of Bulawayo announced that Bulawayo’s 125th celebrations which were scheduled for Saturday have been moved to June 4 to pave way for the burial of the national hero at his rural home in Ntabazinduna on Saturday. He said this was due to a request from Zapu activists who indicated they would also want to be part of the celebrations.
The Zimbabwe People’s Revolutionary Army (Zipra) Veterans Association and Zapu have called on all war veterans, who worked with the late national hero Dumiso Dabengwa (DD), to join a mass memorial slated for Friday at White City Stadium in Bulawayo.
The late former Home Affairs minister died in Nairobi, Kenya while in transit from India. His remains arrived in Bulawayo on Monday.
Dabengwa will be buried at the family shrine in Ntabazinduna, Matebeleland North province as per his wish.
Zipra Veterans Association spokesperson Buster Magwizi yesterday called on all war veterans and citizens in general to give the late hero a befitting send-off.
“From all corners of Zimbabwe, we are saddened by the passing on of Dabengwa. We appeal to all Zipra and Zanla comrades who worked with Dabengwa, who feel that they want to join us in remembering the commander, general, supremo Dumiso Dabengwa to come in your numbers,” Magwizi said.
He said Zimbabweans of all persuasions and the rest of southern Africa lost a gallant son of the soil, a hero of the African people’s liberation and a freedom fighter.
“Dabengwa may not have been a darling of the current administration, but let the brutal truth be told, Dabengwa earned his respect. Hate him, like him or love him, his contribution to the liberation of Africa will forever stand out unchallenged,” he said.
“DD was a forerunner in the armed struggle; he trained the crop of (President) Emmerson Mnangagwa and (Vice-President) Kembo Mohadi, who today… have a myopic view and squinted respect for their commander.”
Own Correspondent|State Media reports that police have arrested two more women who allegedly received training in Maldives with intent to roll out violent demonstrations in the country meant to remove President Emmerson Mnangagwa from power.
They are the Director of Female Prisoners Support Trust Rita Nyampinga and Sithabile Dewa, the Director of Women’s Academy for Leadership and Political Excellence.
The two were arrested soon after landing at Robert Gabriel Mugabe (RGM) International Airport on Monday, before being taken to Harare Central Police Station for further investigations.
They will appear in court soon.
National police spokesperson Assistant Commissioner Paul Nyathi confirmed the arrests yesterday.
The arrest of the two brings to seven the number of suspects arrested in connection with the case since last week.
Last week, five members of Civil Society Organisations who government claimed received training in Maldives with intent to roll out violent demonstrations in the country, appeared in court facing allegations of subverting a constitutionally-elected Government.
South Africa’s Robertson Hospital confiscated the passport of a 25-year-old Zimbabwean woman on 19 May after she went there to seek treatment.
Chiedza* (name withheld) said that on the first day she sought treatment she was handed her hospital file without any questions. But when she returned for a follow-up she was asked to show her identification document. The receptionist then told her that because her passport visa had expired she wasn’t going to get her file. Instead the hospital would keep her passport for seven days while it contacted Home Affairs.
On 22 May Chiedza received a call from the hospital to come and and collect her passport. She went to the hospital the following day and was told to wait until her name was called. A few minutes later she saw Home Affairs officials arriving, to whom she was introduced.
The Home Affairs officials asked her to fill in a couple of forms and then informed her that she had two weeks to seek money to buy a bus ticket to Zimbabwe. They kept her passport and gave her one of the forms instead. They explained that once she had bought the bus ticket she could collect her passport from the hospital and then leave the country.
She picks lemons and naartjies on a Robertson farm. Buying a ticket back to Zimbabwe is not easy for her: she earns about R600 per week.
Chiedza said that the officials had a stack of about 20 passports with hers. She claimed that the confiscation of passports of immigrants mainly from Zimbabwe and Lesotho was common at Robertson hospital.
Sandra Maritz, spokesperson for the health department’s Cape Winelands District, said that Section 44 of the Immigration Act compels the department to determine if a person receiving services is a citizen of the country and to report cases where their status is unclear, or illegal, to the Director-General.
But an attorney for the Legal Resources Centre, Elgene Roos, said that section 44 provides for verification of a person’s status “where possible”. This suggests that it is not necessary to verify the status or citizenship of someone to render a service.
* Her identity cannot be revealed because she is still in the country illegally. – GroundUp
The Movement for Democratic Change convened a successful and historic Congress from the 24th to the 26th of May 2019 at Ascot Stadium inGweru, Midlands Province, Zimbabwe under the theme “Defining a New Course for Zimbabwe”.
Following a comprehensive Political Report of the Party and Thematic Reports followed by robust debates by delegates during plenary, Congress made the following Resolutions –
1. Congress takes note of the multiple crises affecting and arresting Zimbabwe which includes crisis of legitimacy, of governance, of lackof confidence, economy disequilibrium, breakdown of the rule of law, corruption and massive closure of political space. Congress thereforeresolves that the Party must urgently implement measures to address and resolve the national crises. Which measures include the following:- (a) The transformation, strengthening, modernisation, renewal, capacitation, rejuvenation and reinvigoration of the Party.
(b) Defending and protecting the people of Zimbabwe and the constitution though proactive informed processes of engagement that includeadvocacy and mobilisation, including the exercise of the people’s constitutional right to petition and protest as protected by s59 of the Constitution. (c) Providing solid and effective leadership in the zones controlled by the party including parliament, local authority, including deepening andsharpening the Party’s relations with the trade union movement, the church, the student movement and the rest of civic society. (d) Providing leadership and alternative programmes, ideas and solutions to the national crisis through deep and informed policy positions, particularly on issues of governance, the rule of law, constitutionalism and the economy. (e) Implementation and pursuit of the reform agenda particularly on areas that fundamentally affect the national question, including areas of – I. Electoral reform II. Political and institutional reform III. Constitutional and legal reforms IV. Security sector realignment V. Corruption VI. Devolution VII. Poverty and social safety nets VIII. The economy
(f) The pursuit of genuine inclusive national dialogue to actualise the reform agenda though an inclusive framework or transitional mechanism.
Resolution of Legitimacy and the National Question 2. Concerned by the absence of a national consensus and broad-based inclusive reforms resulting in cosmetic, false and pretentious reforms. Congress therefore, calls for the restoration of trust, confidence and legitimacy in order to create an environment for growth, stability, productivityon the back of domestic and foreign capital flows. Congress reiterated its position, that in the face of continued intransigence by Zanu PF, the people of Zimbabwe have a constitutional right to protest. 3. Congress further calls for an all stakeholders and all people’s Convention to locate exit points to the crisis currently bedevilling our country.
4. In order to resolve the national crisis, Congress mandated the party to engage in a national dialogue to reach a political settlement through a transitional mechanism. Any such dialogue must be credible and bankable, anchored on five key pillars which are: a) Return to Legitimacy and normalcy b) A Comprehensive reform agenda c) Nation building and peace building d) An end to international Isolation e) Resolving the economic and humanitarian situation
5. Congress mandates the Party to formulate and launch a roadmap to legitimacy and dialogue framework to guide the Party in any dialogue for thepurposes of resolving the national crisis. The National Economy 6. Through disastrous policies anchored on patronage and regime survival agendas, the Zanu PF administration has collapsed the economy whichfinds itself in a deep recession characterized by high unemployment, zero productivity, hyperinflation, an unsustainable debt, collapsed social services, terrible monetary policy and loss of value of working peoples salaries and pensions. Congress therefore mandates the party to take actionthrough dialogue and other constitutional means of ensuring that there is deep structural Reforms in the economy including – (i) Macro-economic stability and fiscal consolidation (ii) A stable monetary policy including a return to the multi-currency regime and the demonetization of the RTGS dollar and its cousin, the bondnote.(iii) Ensuring full employment and the preservation of the value of wages and pensions (iv) A resolution of the country’s sovereign debt crisis through methods that do not ensure the country’s further indebtedness and the continuedaccumulation of unsustainable and odious debt.(v) Addressing poverty, social services and the creation of social safety nets. (vi) The pursuit of a rigorous programme of the rural areas. (vii) The pursuit of gross capital formation and infrastructural transformation focusing on roads, energy, dam and ICTs.
National Institutions 7. Congress recognises that the constitutional role of national and state institutions including our national security institutions in defending ourterritorial integrity and sovereignty is of utmost importance and that their professionalism and neutrality in the election of political leadership isimportant in the development of constitutional democracy and economy. Rule of law and Independence of the Judiciary 8. Congress reiterates the party’s position to uphold the rule of law and to continue respecting the independence of judiciary.
The Labour Agenda 9. Congress resolved to establish a Labour Caucus as a platform to engage workers and address labour related matters. Congress further resolved to institute a labour quota at all levels in the Party structure. Court Judgement 10. Congress noted a High Court Judgement ordering the Party to hold an Extra-Ordinary Congress and resolved that the necessity and requirements of such Extra-Ordinary Congress have been fully addressed by this Congress. Party in Government 11. Congress noted that the Party has developed a comprehensive policy blueprint called SMART and therefore resolves to stand by these policy positions and continue to review them in line with changing circumstances. Further that the Party must continue to develop policy positions in line with the objectives of the Party. 12. The Party will formulate and launch a New Zimbabwe Blueprint to guide a conversation and discourse on our vision for a new Zimbabwe.
13. The Party will develop a comprehensive legislative agenda to inform reforms and oversight by Parliament.
14. The Party shall develop a SMART agenda to inform the Local Government work-plans in the various zones of autonomy where the Partyhas been given a mandate by the people of Zimbabwe. The National Democratic Project 15. Congress noted that the Party is the legitimate vehicle of the ideals of the liberation struggle. As such, the Party will lead the nation in a national agenda of nation building through building a consensus by all Zimbabweans for Zimbabwe. 16. Congress mandates the Party to honour and salute all the liberation war heroes and the nation’s forebears for their contribution to the attainment of our independence. Diplomacy and International Relations 17. Congress mandates the Party to build a global solidarity network and diplomatic offensive for pressure to resolve the crisis in Zimbabwe.There must be African solutions to African problems upon the support of the international community. 18. Congress directs the Party to build African and global solidarity for the advancement of the African people’s struggles and aspirations. Further, to advance the struggles of all the downtrodden and oppressed people of the world. 19. Congress mandates the Party to work with all progressive peoples, nations and governments that defend and advance good governance, rule of law and democracy, worldwide.
By Oliver Kazunga| A quick access platform has been created for the Zimbabwe Stock Exchange (ZSE) to allow investors and fund managers to enter their orders directly to the Automated Trading System.
This was revealed by the ZSE chief executive officer, Mr Justin Bgoni who said the direct market access (DMA) facility will be operational with effect from next month.
“The ZSE has launched a DMA facility with effect from June 1, 2019. The DMA facility is offered through various connectivity modes, which permit the trading members of ZSE to provide direct trading terminals to their DMA clients,” he said.
“DMA refers to a platform or mechanism whereby fund managers and institutional investors can enter their orders directly into the Automated Trading System (ATS) through a Client Binding Terminal without manual intervention by the broker.”
He added saying that applications for the DMA facility will be processed through the stockbrokers.
“A buyer can therefore place their own orders to the buy and sell columns instantly, and ‘advertise’ the quantity and price of a stock at which they are willing to trade…
“The Regular Board (REG) lot size has been revised to 100 with a minimum tradable value of RTGS$100 while the Odd Lot is one, with a minimum tradable amount for $0.01,” he said. – State Media
By Own Correspondent- Reports that fuel prices have gone up have prompted commuter omnibus operators to hike fares.
Trips which were charged RTGS$1.5 to RTGS$2.0 in the morning are now being charged RTGS$2.5 in Harare. Reports suggest that for the same distances, commuter omnibus operators are already charging RTGS$4.0.
The Zimbabwe Energy Regulatory Authority has however refuted the reports saying that prices have not been reviewed.
This was also confirmed by the secretary in the Finance Ministry, George Guvamatanga who further said current prices must be maintained.
Meanwhile, Energy minister has promised remedial action against fuel operators who are hiking fuel prices.
By Own Correspondent- Zimbabwe United Passenger Company (Zupco) dismissed over 100 bus conductors, with several being prosecuted in the courts, in the first four months of this year in a ticket scam that was bleeding the transport utility.
The state media reported that the conductors would issue the same tickets to different passengers, enabling them to pocket large sums of money.
The pilferage resulted in the firm strengthening its inspectorate teams and planting informers.
Recently, Zupco introduced the “tap-and-go” electronic payment system that will be mounted on its fleet, which will run to 3 000 at peak as the country introduces a mass public transportation system.
Investigations by The Herald established that in some cases, a conductor would pocket fares for the whole 75-seater bus after issuing out old tickets.
Some people blamed Zupco for recruiting degreed staff, some with master’s degrees as conductors, who were advanced in terms of fraud.
Among those arrested and taken to the Harare Magistrates’ Court was a law student, who had deferred studies to raise college fees.
An impeccable source said most cases involved re-issuance of old tickets to passengers.
“Since the tickets had serial numbers, some conductors would start issuing out tickets bearing the last serial numbers, according to the ticket book sequence.
“The same tickets are collected when the passengers disembark. They are reissued to other passengers later in the day to hoodwink inspectors who usually make spot checks after lunch,” said the source.
Another source said in some cases, conductors would just collect the money without issuing tickets.
“Passengers are at times not issued with tickets on evening trips, creating an opportunity for conductors to pocket the money,” the source said.
Cases of theft were rampant op routes like Chitungwiza, Norton and Glen View.
Zupco had to deploy informers on the routes, who would board buses just like any other passenger, to monitor the scam.
The informers were part of the Zupco “hit squad” which falls under the inspectorate.
Most conductors were arrested following tip-offs by whistleblowers.
Zupco chief executive Mr Evaristo Madangwa confirmed the dismissal of over 100 employees over the tickets scandal, but did not disclose the amount lost.
He, however, said pilferage prompted Zupco to introduce the new cashless system where payments are done electronically.
“I can confirm that indeed we have fired a number of conductors since the beginning of the year. They were involved in a scandal whereby tickets were issued twice or thrice to passengers for the purposes of defrauding the company.
“Our alert inspectorate managed to unearth the scam, resulting in the dismissal of at least 100 employees. We had employed them on fixed contracts, hence it was just a matter of terminating their contracts.
“A good number were arrested and taken to court,” he said.
Mr Madangwa said the new ticketing system dubbed “tap and go” would go a long way in reducing pilferage.-StateMedia
The continued clampdown on civic society activists by the government of Zimbabwe clearly reveals a deliberate attempt to close the democratic space in the country.Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition (CiZC) notes with great concern that the ‘new dispensation’ continues to label civic society organizations as agents of regime change and this has been the basis upon which the government has tried to justify its crackdown on the organizations whose mandate is to uphold democracy and hold the government accountable.
We are also concerned that the State media has been complicit in the ongoing clampdown against civic society activists through biased reportage.On May 20, 2019, four civic society activists; George Makoni, Frank Mpahlo, Tatenda Mombeyarara and Gamuchirai Mukura were arrested at the Robert Mugabe International Airport upon their arrival from a peacebuilding workshop in Maldives.They are currently facing trumped-up charges of subversion.
Another girls and women’s’ rights activist, Farirai Gumbonzvanda was arrested on May 21, 2019, at the Robert Gabriel Mugabe International Airport as well and is facing charges of subversion.On May 27, two other womens’ rights activists, Stabile Dewa and Dr. Rita Nyampinga were arrested at the Robert Mugabe International Airport as well.Since the November military coup which saw President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s ascendancy to power, there has been continued militarization of key state institutions in Zimbabwe as well as systemic closure of the democratic space through persecution of civic society activists.
This continues to adversely affect efforts at economic development, broadening of democratic space as well as re-engagement with the international community. What has further worsened the situation is the legitimacy crisis on the part of President Mnangagwa following the much disputed 2018 polls as well as the August 1, 2018 and January 2019 shootings.CiZC is disturbed that while the government has apparently failed to revive the economy and uphold tenets of democracy, ‘the new dispensation’ has declared war against concerned Zimbabweans fighting for a democratic and economically developed Zimbabwe.This is reminiscent of the Mugabe era and bears testimony to the fact that Zimbabwe remains stuck in the dark past.The clampdown on civic society activists, coupled with the continued economic meltdown is a call to action.
Going Forward: As an umbrella body of civic society organizations in Zimbabwe, we urge the Government of Zimbabwe to refocus its energies on an inclusive national reforms program that seeks to broaden and strengthen democratic space and development.
The persecution of CSOs leaders only dampens efforts at achieving a shared national consensus to reform. We reiterate our call for an inclusive process on the national dialogue that brings all stakeholders together.We further clarify that in our view the national dialogue that we continue to call for is not predicated on creating another version of a Global Political Agreement or an elite power-sharing deal. We reiterate that our envisaged national dialogue should be a reform process that seeks to safeguard the interest of citizens by restoring the Social Contract between the citizens and those that govern.In this regard, we hold the firm view that the national dialogue process must never be restricted to political parties but should rather bring on board a cross-section of stakeholders that include civic society, labour, religious groups, business among other critical stakeholders.Restricting the dialogue process to political parties will only create a political pact that excludes the concerns of ordinary citizens. We strongly denounce cosmetic approaches to the national dialogue process.We implore President Mnangagwa that given the fact that he is an interested party and conflicted, the national dialogue process must be facilitated by an impartial body. We also raise our concerns over a national dialogue process that is facilitated by the National Peace and Reconciliation Commission on the basis of the following:
NPRC Commissioners are appointees of the President and save at his mercy who in this case is a conflicted party
The commission has, despite repeated calls and need, failed to rollout tangible national reconciliation initiatives
We further call on the president to prove his sincerity by ensuring that Zimbabwe has a conducive environment for holding an inclusive dialogue process in the wake of state-sponsored terror that has increased fear levels amongst citizens. To create a conducive environment and as part of confidence and trust building in the national dialogue, the government must immediately meet the following conditions:
End torture, abductions and enforced disappearances, murder, rape and maiming civilians by the military, state security agents and ruling party vigilante groups
Decriminalize the work of civic society and end the continued persecution and arbitrary arrests of civic society leaders
Ensure that peace and human security to prevail to allow for all stakeholder to freely express their views on the national dialogue process
Release of all political prisoners and return Zimbabwe to the rule of law
The attack on Chapter 12 institutions must seize and independent constitutional bodies allowed to discharge their mandate without undue interference from the state and other conflicted parties
Promote fair media coverage for all stakeholders and allow divergent views to be shared on all media platforms. Tolerance to divergence is the hallmark of enriching the national dialogue process
We reiterate that efforts at arresting the multi-faceted crisis facing the country are hinged on a proper national dialogue process that seeks to put the concerns of ordinary citizens on board.
Addressing the Zimbabwean crisis implies addressing the concerns of the ordinary citizens who have had to bear the brutal effects of an economic meltdown stemming from a constitutional and legitimacy crisis.
Government needs to honour its social protection obligations and this is achievable through wide consultations hence the need for an inclusive process.
On our part as Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition, we have set our minimum demands for the national dialogue process based on wider consultations with our membership around the country.
Our demands are highlighted below;
On the process:
1) It is our conviction that the national dialogue process must involve all stakeholders and a national visioning process that has civil society, government, political parties, business, religious groups and labour unions among other critical stakeholders. The dialogue process should produce a clearly timed roadmap to the demilitarisation of civilian political processes and the restoration of normalcy by focusing on key political, economic and social reforms. In this regard, we call for FULL CONSULTATION of all stakeholders rather than cosmetic processes.
On the Economy:
2) It is imperative to arrest the economic downturn in Zimbabwe based on a clear reform roadmap and implementation of pro-poor and inclusive economic policies. Efforts at economic transformation, stabilisation and growth should be aimed at achieving inclusive sustainable economic growth and development.
On Constitutionalism, Rule of Law, Human Rights and Human Security:
3) The Government of Zimbabwe must uphold and guarantee citizens’ rights as enshrined in the Zimbabwean Constitution and other regional and international human rights treaties and statutes. Full implementation of the country’s constitution is equally important in promoting democracy in Zimbabwe.
4) The Government of Zimbabwe must respect the fundamental right of access to information, freedom of expression as well as freedom of association.
5) There is need to immediately operationalise a comprehensive programme on national healing, reconciliation and nation-building that will depolarise society and entrench the respect for diversity, inclusion and tolerance in all facets of life.
6) The army must desist from partisan politics and confine themselves to the barracks. There is an imperative need to de-militarise the Zimbabwean state.
7) There is need for non-interference into the work of institutions that support democracy. This again calls for full implementation and respect of the country’s constitution. Also, government must not be seen to be criminalising the work of civic society organisations.
8) CiZC holds the firm view that implementation of electoral reforms is critical as a way of doing away with disputed elections that often result in a legitimacy crisis which comes with negative impacts on democracy and economic development.
By Own Correspondent- Government has issued a stern warning to those fueling the parallel market revealing that while it was clueless on who was driving it, plans were at an advanced stage to fish out the real forces behind the ever rising rate.
Speaking during a post Cabinet briefing recently, Information miinister Monica Mutsvangwa said it was highly unlikely that the parallel market was being run by the ordinary person on the street.
She however ruled out suspicion that the central bank governor, John Mangudya and Finance Minister, Mthuli Ncube’s policies were behind the acts.
Said Mutsvangwa:
“I think it would be folly for anybody to think that the young people on the street without even shoes are the ones driving the parallel market.It’s time for us to interrogate who exactly is determining the exchange rate in this country. It’s certainly not the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe Governor, it’s certainly not the Minister of Finance, and so the question would be what kind of activities would justify a high rate of one hundred percent almost in a week.
We need to interrogate who is pushing the rate and it’s unfortunate that prices of goods and services are now being determined by that black market exchange rate.”
Farai Dziva|Although Senator Morgen Komichi has failed to retain the post of vice president in the MDC A he has emphasized that he will never abandon the revolution.
Said Komichi:”President (Nelson Chamisa) the line up that is before you today is the design of the Lord, you cannot change it. When God designs the leadership all we have to do is follow.”
“As a human being who has been foreseeing victory, it is natural to feel hurt and disappointed.
However, one should quickly accept it. It’s the voters who have selected these leaders, so who am I to go against the people’s choice.”
“I will never abandon the revolution, neither will I leave my young man (Chamisa). Please help me to heal because I want to. I will support the president and the entire team with anything they need from me.”
Farai Dziva|State security agents have driven to Masvingo from Harare with Community Tolerance Reconciliation and Development (COTRAD) director Gamuchirai Mukura to search for documents to prove the organization is working with external forces to topple Emmerson Mnangagwa.
Mukura and four human rights activists were arrested at Robert Gabriel Mugabe International Airport for allegedly plotting to overthrow Mnangagwa’s government.
Among the four activists is Farirai Gumbonzvanda(26).
Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights legal practitioners have revealed to ZimEye.com they are closely monitoring the situation.
COTRAD officials also confirmed state security agents travelled to Masvingo from Harare, forcibly entered the NGO’s offices and searched for what they described as “information on how to topple the government.”
Farai Dziva| The MDC A has presented economic recovery resolutions meant to restore the nation’s bread basket status.
See the party’s Congress resolutions- pertaining to the state of the economy:
National Economy
Through disastrous policies anchored on patronage and regime survival agendas, the ZANU PF administration has collapsed the economy which finds itself in a deep recession characterized by high unemployment, zero productivity, hyperinflation, an unsustainable debt, collapsed social services, terrible monetary policy and loss of value of working peoples salaries and pensions.
Congress therefore mandates the party to take action through dialogue and other constitutional means of ensuring that there is deep structural Reforms in the economy including –
(i) macro-economic stability and fiscal consolidation
(ii) a stable monetary policy including a return to the multi-currency regime and the demonetization of the RTGS dollar and its cousin, the bond note.
(iii) ensuring full employment and the preservation of the value of wages and pensions
(iv) a resolution of the country’s sovereign debt crisis through methods that do not ensure the country’s further indebtedness and the continued accumulation of unsustainable and odious debt.
(v) addressing poverty, social services and the creation of social safety nets.
(vi) the pursuit of a rigorous programme of the rural areas.
(vii) the pursuit of gross capital formation and infrastructural transformation focusing on roads, energy, dam and ICTs.
Farai Dziva| The MDC A has presented economic recovery resolutions meant to restore the nation’s bread basket status.
See the party’s Congress resolutions- pertaining to the state of the economy:
National Economy
Through disastrous policies anchored on patronage and regime survival agendas, the ZANU PF administration has collapsed the economy which finds itself in a deep recession characterized by high unemployment, zero productivity, hyperinflation, an unsustainable debt, collapsed social services, terrible monetary policy and loss of value of working peoples salaries and pensions.
Congress therefore mandates the party to take action through dialogue and other constitutional means of ensuring that there is deep structural Reforms in the economy including –
(i) macro-economic stability and fiscal consolidation
(ii) a stable monetary policy including a return to the multi-currency regime and the demonetization of the RTGS dollar and its cousin, the bond note.
(iii) ensuring full employment and the preservation of the value of wages and pensions
(iv) a resolution of the country’s sovereign debt crisis through methods that do not ensure the country’s further indebtedness and the continued accumulation of unsustainable and odious debt.
(v) addressing poverty, social services and the creation of social safety nets.
(vi) the pursuit of a rigorous programme of the rural areas.
(vii) the pursuit of gross capital formation and infrastructural transformation focusing on roads, energy, dam and ICTs.
Farai Dziva|A woman who claims a Zanu PF MP had s*x with her and abandoned her has vowed to expose the legislator’s shenanigans.
The woman, Henrietta Tafadzwa Rushwaya said Zanu PF MP for Mberengwa North, Tafanana Zhou had s*x with her after promising to marry her.
In court documents Zhou said Rushwaya should bring forth evidence to prove that he had s*x with her.
According to H-Metro Chauke has responded by promising to expose the MP with her evidence consisting of a video clip, WhatsApp chats as well as Ecocash transactions between her and the legislator who is now disowning her.
Former Botswana President Ian Khama has just shown that he is no different from one of his former worst enemies President Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe.
He has just resigned from the ruling Botswana Democratic Party and has vowed to join the opposition Umbrella for Democratic Change “to make sure that the BDP loses power in October”.
This is all because President Mokgweetsi Masisi, whom Khama hand-picked to succeed him, lifted the suspension on big game hunting that Khama imposed in 2014.
“I came here to tell you that I am cutting ties with the BDP as I do not recognise this party anymore. It was a mistake to choose Masisi as my successor. I will now work with the opposition to make sure that the BDP loses power in October,” Khama told villagers in Serowe where he is paramount chief on Saturday.
Mugabe last year switched allegiance from the ruling Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front which he led for 40 years to support opposition candidate Nelson Chamisa in last year’s elections.
Mugabe, however, had a more plausible reason to ditch his party and successor Emmerson Mnangagwa because they forcibly removed him from power.
You have to wonder what celebrated climber Sir Edmund Hillary would make of this week’s images from Mt Everest.
A jam of wannabes trying to make it to the summit. Dead bodies on the track, 11 having lost their lives in 10 days. Oxygen-deprived climbers jostling with each other for their place in the queue. Others being dragged down as life drains from their bodies.
It’s a ghastly glimpse of humanity at its worst and one I’m sure would horrify the humble man who first pitted himself against the tallest mountain in the world.
In 2003, 50 years after he climbed Everest, the climber told me the mountain needed a break.
“Human life,” he said, “is far more important than just getting to the top of a mountain”.
Sixteen years later we need to close the damn mountain. Pull out the ladders over the Khumbu Icefall. Put up a stop sign. Forbid anyone walking past Base Camp and broadcast to the world that Chomolungma, what the Tibetans call “Goddess Mother of Mountains”, can now rest both in majesty and peace.
I deplore the harnessing of nature and I’m not advocating a gate at the base of Everest to save these idiots from themselves. Rather, having climbed in the Himalayas, I believe the mountain should be honoured from afar and saved from becoming a squalid human graveyard. Climbing Everest is not sport or “living your best life”; it’s become the epitome of heartless, self-serving arrogance.
Traffic jams to the peak of Mt Everest have highlighted a huge problem.Picture: @nimsdai Project Possible/AFPSource:AFPSacks of garbage collected from Mount Everest. Picture: Niranjan Shrestha/APSource:AP
Climbing Everest is no longer a test of human endeavour for the world’s most experienced mountaineers. Instead, it has become a grotesque theme park for cashed-up, kitted-up corporates and thrillseekers who see it as a notch on their belt and a post on their Instagram.
The mountain is making monsters out of all of us: the middle-class adventure seekers who clearly think it requires little more training than a Saturday fun run; the companies responsible for this ugly commercialisation of risk; the voyeurs who click on the ever more disturbing photographs and video that pop up each May as the perilously short climbing season gets underway.
Honestly, if we’re trying to rid our oceans of plastic then we’re equally responsible for clearing our tallest peaks of both human detritus and the grievous lack of integrity and care that causes it.
As in so much of life, just because we can doesn’t mean we should.
Sure, adrenaline is an intoxicating drug and with enough cash and chutzpah you can turn it into boast-worthy holiday. Drop the credit card, sign the disclaimer, buy the expensive gear and jump in. Equally, those who want to paddle across an ocean, or base jump through the pylons of a bridge or free dive underwater until their lungs collapse, can go for their lives.
Often they do. It’s not for us to police other people’s choices.
Where we should step in is when innocent people or the planet are harmed. When ambition exceeds competency to such an extent that others’ lives are put in jeopardy and the wilderness loses its mystique. Everest is strewn with disused oxygen tanks, broken ladders, frayed ropes and frozen bodies, some of whom belong to the Sherpas who are collateral casualties in Western egotism. As Rob Hall, leader of the ill-fated 1996 expedition, once said: “Human beings simply aren’t built to function at the cruising altitude of a 747.”
The argument has long been that the climbing fees help men earn money for their families and support the Nepalese Government. But what of the child who has lost his father on the peak because some arrogant CEO thought it’d make a great day out? The Himalayas is more than just one tiny platform on the top of the world, it’s an endless panorama of extraordinary beauty.
The Government could still earn millions from those wanting to see the region, just not ascend it.
When I spent 16 days walking from Lukla to Base Camp in April 2008 I saw the hoards preparing for their ascent. They were tense and joyless, nervous about the weather, competing expeditions and their own endurance. I doubt many of them noticed the stunning ice-blue streams, the prayer flags fluttering in the breeze, the warmth of a mug of ginger tea and the kindness of those who opened their homes.
Elia Saikaly’s disturbing photograph shows tourist climbing over a dead body to continue their journey.Source:Supplied
That’s certainly not what’s been described by adventure filmmaker Elia Saikaly whose series of images have shown what’s been happening in Everest this last fortnight.
“I cannot believe what I saw up there,” he wrote. “Death. Carnage. Chaos. Line-ups. Dead bodies on the route and in tents at camp 4. People who I tried to turn back who ended up dying. People being dragged down. Walking over bodies.”
Contrast that with the late Sir Edmund who had no photographs of himself on the peak. He was a mountaineer, not a self-publicist, though he took a snap of the Sherpa, Tenzing Norgay, simply to prove that they’d made it.
“I didn’t worry about getting Tenzing to take a photograph of me,” he pointed out, even though his ascent coincided with the Queen’s coronation and would later see him knighted.
“As far as I knew, he had never taken a photograph before, and the summit of Everest was hardly the place to show him how.”
Oh, that our highest mountain might once again be treated with such respect and humility.
ĹSir Edmund Hillary didn’t need to show off that he and Nepalese Sherpa Tenzing Norgay had reached the mountain’s peak.Source:Supplied
Gweru — THE new MDC leadership elected at the just ended congress is incorruptible and will give President Emmerson Mnangagwa sleepless nights, the opposition party’s leader Nelson Chamisa has boasted.
Chamisa said on Monday in his concluding remarks at Gweru’s Ascot Stadium as he unveiled his new team that included returning prodigal sons, former secretary general Welshman Ncube and Tendai Biti who were elected as vice presidents.
“With this team I do not have to worry. Tendai Biti and the others will always assist me to achieve our goals.
“We have produced the best leadership, with the likes of Welshman Ncube, David Coltart, Hwende the one in trouble is Mnangagwa. I feel sorry for Mnangagwa. I feel sorry for our competition,” said Chamisa.
“No party will ever defeat the MDC in this country, we are too good. We are the biggest and most popular party on the continent and we want to influence international politics.”
Ncube, Lynette Kore and firebrand legislator Biti were voted as Chamisa’s three deputies while Charlton Hwende (secretary general) and David Coltart (treasurer general) also made it into the party’s standing committee.
Thabitha Khumalo was re-elected party national chairperson and will be deputised by another radical, Job ‘Wiwa’ Sikhala who beat former party youth assembly leaders Happymore Chidziva and Costa Machingauta.
Former vice president Morgen Komichi and Elias Mudzuri as well as former secretary general Douglas Mwonzora were the biggest casualties. The latter lost to Chamisa’s best friend Charlton Hwende by a margin of 2090 to 721.
Chamisa has threatened unspecified action which he said would force Mnangagwa to use brute force and “kill the people”.
The opposition leader has requested for the international community to stand ready to help Zimbabwe if the government turns its guns on its people.
Chamisa’s party has led deadly protests in August last year and January this year in which the army was forced to use live ammunition, leaving at least 23 people dead and scores with gaping gunshot wounds.
State Media|SALARY negotiations between the Government and civil servants are on-going with another review expected next month as promised by the Government.
In March, civil servants received a salary increase of RTGS$400 million as part of their cost of living adjustment, with the Government promising another review of salaries in June this year.
Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare Deputy Minister Lovemore Matuke yesterday said Government was aware of the plight of its employees.
He emphasised the Government’s commitment to improving the living conditions of civil servants by supporting them with both monetary and non-monetary benefits.
“We’re aware that the situation out there is not favourable for civil servants and it calls for an adjustment of their salaries. Dialogue between Government and civil servants through the Tripartite Negotiating Forum (TNF) is ongoing and I’m certain that by June the Government would have increased their salaries.
“I don’t have the figures yet because negotiations are ongoing but I’m confident that the Government will take care of civil servants’ needs. The current Government never fails. If it makes a commitment it fulfils it,” said Deputy Minister Matuke.
Under the RTGS$400 million pay deal, a civil servant who was earning RTGS$441 is now getting RTGS$570, while those who were earning RTGS$519 are now earning RTGS$649.
The salary increases ranged from 13 percent to 25 percent according to grades.
Initially, the civil servants were demanding a minimum salary of RTGS$1 700, arguing that the local currency had lost value, while prices of goods and services were going up on a weekly basis.
Last month, Minister of Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare, Dr Sekai Nzenza, said the Government was working on introducing non-monetary incentives for its employees such as housing, transport and medical insurance.
Government has been putting in place measures to improve the welfare of its employees. Recently, civil servants got the green light to import vehicles duty-free as part of non-monetary incentives.
The duty-free scheme is covered by Statutory Instrument 52 of 2019 and will see those with 10 years in service qualifying.
In addition, a $60 million housing facility for civil servants was unveiled as part of the non-monetary incentives.
By Own Correspondent- Minister of Energy and Power Development Advocate Fortune Chasi has promised action to redress the current fuel hikes by fuel players. This comes after reports circulated on social media suggesting that fuel prices had gone up to RTGS$7 per litre.
His remarks come after Zimbabwe Energy Regulatory Authority (ZERA) and permanent secretary in the ministry of Finance George Guvamatanga refuted the reports that the government had increased fuel prices.
Chasi’s sentiments suggest that fuel players have raised fuel prices. Speaking during a post Cabinet briefing in the capital today, Chasi warned that ZERA will be out in full force enforcing the law. He said:
It is unacceptable for fuel players to insist on US dollar payments only. That is not compliant with their licences. Remedial action will be taken.
By Own Correspondent- Bulawayo based Johanne Masowe Echishanu Apostolic member, Madzibaba Emmanuel ‘Signature’ Mutumwa has called on the church’s senior members to focus on divisions rocking the church instead of petty issues like adverts.
The outspoken member said people should be worried about prophets who are smoking mbanje, sleeping with women and drinking beer in church.
Responding to comments by the Johanne Masowe Echishanu seniors over the rise in media advertising by emerging members, Mutumwa said there is nothing wrong in using media as a platform to inform the public about the good word of God.
According to the church’s doctrine, it is not allowed to advertise their work through media channels such as radio, television and newspapers, a senior member recently said.
“Those who are saying that adverts are not allowed in Johanne Masowe, why do they have musicians like Hosiah Chipanga singing about them? Is that not advertising?
“How many adverts have they made, if Baba Johanne said there should be no houses at the shrines, why is Madzibaba Mose staying in a house at his shrine?
“These people have divided our church, because zvimwe zvikwata held a conference in Mberengwa and some in Muzondiwa.
“I am only exonerating Madzibaba Katsiru, I have never seen any of his adverts.
“I am well informed about the shenanigans of these prophets, the fraud they are committing at their shrines but Mose and Magirazi should stay away, they should stop talking about adverts,” he said.
Mutumwa said, people who pay for adverts have money.
“Adverts are paid for, they are not for free, advert is to inform people to understand what is going on, inobhadharwa, I pay almost 20 000 RTGS for all my adverts.
“Ndee mari inotobuda nemunhu ane mari, they should stop what they are doing, I have discs they are selling.
“Ukaona mupostori akavaka imba yake pamasowe haasi mupostori, only toilets are built at the shrines for cleanliness but discs and videos are produced.
“Baba Lawrence Katsiru is the only person I can exonerate apo because he is not even aware of some of the dirt things which are happening in church.
“I am not stopping to inform people through adverts.
“Vaporofita vedu ava, I know everything about these people, they are smoking tobacco, mbanje and drinking beer.
“I have their pictures, they should keep quiet, because vamwe vatori neproblem yemudumbu nekumwa doro, mahot stuff.
“They are going to n’anga, I know their sangomas, and they are big thieves in Johanne Masowe.
“Baba Katsiru is clean, but vamwe avo are doing adverts.”
He also questioned the authenticity of the big five of the church.
“These people are no longer part of Johanne Masowe, because when they say Mathias, Gibson, Israel, Katsiru and Edward as the big five, whose big five.
“I am surprised by this big five, because Edward and Israel are doing their own things while the other three are in their own world.
“This is their own big five, ini handina big five mberi kwangu, ahead of people in this sect there is Johanne and Emmanuel.
“Big five is an instruction which was left by Julius that the church should have some leaders to help in guiding people but it is not written anywhere.
“And these should shut up their mouths, they should actually stop people from drinking beer in church.”
Added Mutumwa:
“We want pertinent issues, advert is money, hazvisi zvemahara, if you don’t have money you can’t advertise.
“Zvema adverts hazvina kana basa izvi, people should speak about vaporofita vari kunwa doro in church and the divisions which have rocked the church.
“People should talk of fraud in church but people are afraid to say the truth, because I can’t pray with drunkards, fraudsters.
“How many people have fallen victims over fake prophets in the church, some are going to snake park taking five meter long snakes, ndedzei.
“Vari kunyepera vanhu nenyoka dzenhema, prophets in Harare should stop this nonsense because If we are to tell the truth, masowe akawanda anofa because we have the truth.”
According to Mutumwa, the church of Johanne Masowe Echishanu has been divided and need collective efforts to reunite.
“In Johanne Masowe there is Jerusarema, Vadzidzi, Nguwo Tsvuku, Muchinjiko, Johanne Yechitatu, yeZambuko.
“There are so many and those are the groups which left Johanne Masowe Echishanu.
“So the church is divided and need to be brought together.
“The issue of an adverts is a small issue.
“Katsiru, Gibson and Mathias held their own conference while Edward and Israel held theirs, a short distance from each other.
“Zvoratidza kunamata here izvozvo? They should dig down into that and restore the church into order not about adverts, divisions should be dealt with.
“Let’s look at the divisions affecting the church not small issues like adverts.”-H Metro
Malawi Law Society has told the High Court in Lilongwe to release the presidential results but hold the swearing in ceremony until all grievances are dealt with.
Lawyers Martha Kaukonde (L) and Charles Mpaka leave the courts
In an affidavit presented in the court on Sunday, the Malawi Law Society (MLS) lawyers said there was no need to suspend Malawi Electoral Commission (MEC) processes once the electoral process was in motion.
“No need for swearing in of any declared winner before the 24 days for dispute resolution provided at High Court level,” says the affidavit in part.
The MLS has joined the case as amicus curiae (friend of the court) as the opposition MCP is waging a legal battle against MEC’s decision to declare president Peter Mutharika winner in the presidential race before a recount of some districts where the party says poll results were manipulated in favour of the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) candidate.
MLS lawyers therefore asked Judge Charles Mkandawire to give directions that enable the complainant handling the electoral processes at MEC and High Court to be exhausted without interfering with the functions of MEC while recognizing the need to exhaust the full dispute resolution mechanism at the court and the pollster.
“We also asked the court not to allow the Constitution and the presidential and parliamentary Elections Act being used as engines of alleged fraud or irregularities if the dispute resolution process is not allowed to be exhausted,” says the affidavit in part.
MLS argues that the process of determining results within eight days cannot be interrupted.
The eight-day period to determine the results ends on Wednesday, therefore the MLS says any party dissatisfied with the MEC’s determination is entitled to appeal or review before the High Court.
MCP wants votes from Nsanje, Chikwawa, Mangochi, Blantyre, Zomba, Karonga, Rumphi, Nkhata Bay, Chitipa, and Mulanje verified through recounting of the ballot papers.
But MEC lawyers led by Attorney General Kalekeni Kaphale, have argued that MCP wrongly obtained a stay order before exhausting remedies from electoral body as mandated by law.
The Civil (High Court) procedure rules and the Presidential and Parliamentary Elections Act provides that MEC should be allowed to resolve electoral disputes and only after not being satisfied with that determination the matter can be taken to court.
DPP has since joined the case as an interested party.
By Own Correspondent- Four people escaped death by a whisker when the house they were sleeping in was set on fire in a RTGS$1 row.
The four who include two Royden Farm Primary School pupils, their mother and a physically challenged grandmother escaped death after their step father locked them in a hut from outside and set it on fire in Zvimba East.
The house was razed down last Friday morning in the inferno and the suspect Aleck Grant, 56, has since been arrested and assisting police with investigations.
Narrating the ordeal, Margaret Zhuwawu, 49, said her husband Grant requested for RTGS$2.50 and Zhuwawu only had RTGS$1 which she gave him.
“The horror started after my husband asked for $2,50 bus fare so that he delivers his grandchildren’s clothes in Sam Levy area.
“I advised him that I had no money besides a single dollar for today’s vegetable relish at night. He forced me to hand over this dollar, when he came back late, I asked him to give me back that dollar so we send a child to buy vegetables for our day’s meal before sleeping.
“He refused to give me saying I was prostituting with teachers from Rodney school, where I often do piece jobs for our family’s sole survival means,” Zhuwawu said.
She said she went into the bedroom when she realised that Grant was becoming violent.
“I went to sleep in another room and hid there with two toddlers and he locked the door from outside shouting that he was going to kill all of us today.
“In seconds, we discovered that the house was on fire and there was nowhere to escape through as the door was now tightly locked from outside using chains.
“I managed to force my children through a very tinny door space near the door.
“It was horrific like movie as my children were screaming jumping from one wall to the other with dropping roofs and ashes all over the floor,” she said.
“Thank God, we heard people forcing the door to open and they saved my life.
“We heard Grant shouting that he wanted us dead. Imagine there was also my mother who is crippled.
“My husband has been violent even during our first marriage times and I left him for that.
“I later got married and had two more sons; these are the boys that my husband locked and wanted to burn us in there,” Zhuwawu said.
One of the rescuers Aleck Chiwawa, 32, said domestic violence was rife in the area.
“The police must come and camp here because many women and children are being sexually abused day and night here, even those organisations which educate human beings on how to live as civilised community must quickly come here before many deaths and property damages happen soon,” Chiwawa said.-HMetro
THE new MDC leadership elected at the just ended congress is incorruptible and will give President Emmerson Mnangagwa sleepless nights, the opposition party’s leader Nelson Chamisa has boasted.
Chamisa said on Monday in his concluding remarks at Gweru’s Ascot Stadium as he unveiled his new team that included returning prodigal sons, former secretary general Welshman Ncube and Tendai Biti who were elected as vice presidents.
“With this team I do not have to worry. Tendai Biti and the others will always assist me to achieve our goals.
“We have produced the best leadership, with the likes of Welshman Ncube, David Coltart, Hwende the one in trouble is Mnangagwa. I feel sorry for Mnangagwa. I feel sorry for our competition,” said Chamisa.
“No party will ever defeat the MDC in this country, we are too good. We are the biggest and most popular party on the continent and we want to influence international politics.”
Ncube, Lynette Kore and firebrand legislator Biti were voted as Chamisa’s three deputies while Charlton Hwende (secretary general) and David Coltart (treasurer general) also made it into the party’s standing committee.
Thabitha Khumalo was re-elected party national chairperson and will be deputised by another radical, Job ‘Wiwa’ Sikhala who beat former party youth assembly leaders Happymore Chidziva and Costa Machingauta.
Former vice president Morgen Komichi and Elias Mudzuri as well as former secretary general Douglas Mwonzora were the biggest casualties. The latter lost to Chamisa’s best friend Charlton Hwende by a margin of 2090 to 721.
Chamisa has threatened unspecified action which he said would force Mnangagwa to use brute force and “kill the people”.
The opposition leader has requested for the international community to stand ready to help Zimbabwe if the government turns its guns on its people.
Chamisa’s party has led deadly protests in August last year and January this year in which the army was forced to use live ammunition, leaving at least 23 people dead and scores with gaping gunshot wounds.
By Own Correspondent- The Zimbabwe Energy Regulatory Authority (ZERA) has refuted reports circulating on social media on fuel price increases.
Posting on Twitter, ZERA said:
Following the post circulating on social media on the increase of fuel prices, ZERA wishes to assert that fuel prices have not been reviewed.
Permanent Secretary In the Ministry of Finance and Economic Development in Zimbabwe, George Guvamatanga reiterated the remarks by ZERA.
He said:
The Government has NOT increased the price of fuel.While a review of prices was done the decision is that the current prices should be maintained.ZERA will be issuing a detailed statement.
Own Correspondent|Social media has been awash with reports that firebrand Uganda politician Bobi Wine and his Kenyan counterpart Babu Owino were arrested in Zimbabwe on Saturday.
The two young leaders joined thousands of people to witness Nelson Chamisa appointed the MDC President, replacing the iconic Morgan Isvangirai.
According to Zimbabwe newspapers, Bobi Wine was detained at the Airport after he touched down on Saturday morning.
The musician revealed in his speech at the event that he was forced by authorities to sign an understanding that he would not sing.
“As I was entering Zimbabwe at the airport, I had to sign, an understanding that I am not coming to Zimbabwe to sing,” he said. “I understand it because in some countries one has to get permission because I am known as a performer. I understood it.”
Bobi Wine’s spokesperson Joel Ssenyonyi has since denied that the rumours that they were arrested. He said that it seems the authorities in Zimbabwe are afraid of the People Power Movement.
“Rumors that Hon Kyagulanyi and I were arrested in Zimbabwe are untrue. On arrival, government officials questioned us for a while (I guess we’re scary) we then went for the MDC rally. Zimbabweans are striving for a better country, like we are. We met Ugandans in Zimbabweans and support the struggle,” he said.
ODM Secretary General Edwin Sifuna, who represented Raila Odinga at the event also said that he had been harassed by police.
“The first question they asked me is ‘how do you know these MDC crooks?’ And I told them the MDC and my party ODM have a long history, since the times of Morgan Tsvangirayi. They then told me the MDC is a troublemaker. That they rejected the results of the elections and are arranging some sort of upheaval, protest, to remove the democratically elected president,” Sifuna recounted during the rally held in Gweru city.
Bobi Wine is one of the most influential politicians in Africa and is seen as the man who will end dictator Museveni’s stranglehold on power. He will run for Presidency in 2022.
Babu Owino has also declared his intentions to lead the country at one time. While in Zimbabwe, he referred to himself as Kenya’s future President.
Together with Chamisa, they have formed the Youth for Africa Movement, which is challenging the Status Quo in African Politics.
Africans must stop fearing their governments even in the face of blatant state excesses.
Own Correspondent|Government has failed a major diplomatic case after it allowed members of the Zimbabwe Defence Forces to carry shoulder high the coffin of the late national hero Dumiso Dabengwa covered in a ZAPU Flag and not the Zimbabwe flag.
Members of the Army did not question the ZAPU flag and carried the coffin to a service held at the Nyaradzo parlour in Bulawayo.
Army conduct would not allow the soldiers to carry the coffin with the ZAPU flag.
ZAPU members said they did not want the Zimbabwean flag because the flag was synonymous with the massacre of the people of ZAPU during the Gukurahundi era.
President Emmerson Mnangagwa declared Dabengwa as a national hero but the family insisted that he will be buried in Ntabazinduma.
Watch the video below as captured by Ezra Tshisa Sibanda.
Own Correspondent|The government has warned that it will arrest owners of fuel filing stations that are over charging on fuel or demanding foreign currency for fuel.
According to government the regulated maximum cost of petrol should not be more than $7 per litre.
The warnings came about after reports that some service stations were charging close to $8 for fuel. The Zimbabwe Energy Regulatory Authority (ZERA) has since said that it has not approved any fuel increase.
Posting updates following a cabinet meeting, the Ministry of Information said,
“Cabinet has resolved that it is unacceptable to sell fuel at as high as $7 per litre. Minister Fortune Chasi has met players and warned them that this behaviour is not acceptable and ZERA will be out in full force enforcing the law.”
…It is unacceptable for fuel players to insist on USD payments only. That is not compliant with their licences. Remedial action will be taken..”
Log leaders Caps United have suffered a blow ahead of their Castle Lager Premiership Match-day 10 encounter against Chicken Inn.
The Green Machine will be without fullback Valentine Musarurwa who has been a key figure in the squad this term.
Musarurwa is on a yellow card suspension after accumulating three bookings.
He has made five assists so far and his combination with Gabriel Nyoni on the right flank has clicked superbly.
The tie which is a top-of-the-table clash is scheduled for National Sports Stadium on Sunday.
Meanwhile, other games on this weekend include the meeting between champions FC Platinum and Dynamos at Mandava, Highlanders vs ZPC KKaribaat Barbourfields and Harare City vs Hwange in the capital.
CLPSL Match-day 10 Fixtures:
Saturday 01 June 2019
Bulawayo Chiefs vs Ngezi Platinum (Luveve Stadium)
FC Platinum vs Dynamos (Mandava Stadium)
Black Rhinos vs Herentals (NSS)
Harare City vs Hwange (Rufaro Stadium)
Manica Diamonds vs Yadah (Gibbo Stadium)
Sunday 02 June 2019
Triangle United vs Mushowani Stars
(Gibbo Stadium)
Highlanders vs ZPC Kariba (Barbourfields Stadium)
Chapungu vs Telone (Mandava Stadium)
Caps United vs Chicken Inn (NSS)- Soccer24Zimbabwe
Farai Dziva|Nottingham Forest defender Tendayi Darikwa says the Warriors want to make the nation proud by achieving success at the 2019 Afcon in Egypt next month.
The Zimbabwe national team is currently in camp, preparing for the tournament which starts on the 21st of June and will face the hosts on the opening match-day.
In an interview with his English Championship club, Darikwa said: “We have to concentrate on our ourselves and stick to our game plan, if we are able to do that then there is no reason why we can’t be successful.
“Overall, we want to make the people of Zimbabwe proud, we play for them, and with the tremendous support not just in the stadium but also from home we want to give everything to make them believe in us.”
Farai Dziva|Real Madrid captain Sergio Ramos has asked to leave the club, president Florentino Perez has confirmed.
Perez told a Spanish radio station Onda Cero that the skipper and his agent approached him and revealed they have received a “very good offer” from a Chinese club who wants to sign the player on a free transfer.
But Ramos, 33, still has two more years to play at Bernabeu as his contract runs until 2021.
“I told Ramos that it was impossible for Real Madrid to let their captain go for free,” said Parez on the radio.
“They came to see me at the office and they told me that they had a very good offer from China but that the rules there do not allow them to pay the transfer.”
Meanwhile, Ramos and Perez reportedly fell out after Real’s Champions League last-16 defeat by Ajax in February and the new developments could have emerged from this fracas.
Farai Dziva|Although Senator Morgen Komichi has failed to retain the post of vice president in the MDC A he has emphasized that he will never abandon the revolution.
Said Komichi:”President (Nelson Chamisa) the line up that is before you today is the design of the Lord, you cannot change it. When God designs the leadership all we have to do is follow.”
“As a human being who has been foreseeing victory, it is natural to feel hurt and disappointed.
However, one should quickly accept it. It’s the voters who have selected these leaders, so who am I to go against the people’s choice.”
“I will never abandon the revolution, neither will I leave my young man (Chamisa). Please help me to heal because I want to. I will support the president and the entire team with anything they need from me.”
Farai Dziva|State security agents have driven to Masvingo from Harare with Community Tolerance Reconciliation and Development (COTRAD) director Gamuchirai Mukura to search for documents to prove the organization is working with external forces to topple Emmerson Mnangagwa.
Mukura and four human rights activists were arrested at Robert Gabriel Mugabe International Airport for allegedly plotting to overthrow Mnangagwa’s government.
Among the four activists is Farirai Gumbonzvanda(26).
Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights legal practitioners have revealed to ZimEye.com they are closely monitoring the situation.
COTRAD officials also confirmed state security agents travelled to Masvingo from Harare, forcibly entered Mukura’s house and searched for what they described as “information on how to topple the government.”
Own Correspondent|Motorists in Harare have released evidence that the price of fuel has shot up yet again.
According to pictures captured at a Harare fielding station and sent to ZimEye.com, Diesel is selling at RTGS 7.80 while petrol has been hiked to RTGS 7.98.
The authorities are yet to issue a formal statement….
More to follow…
Fuel prices up againfuel prices up again in zimbabwe
Farai Dziva|Zanu-PF spokesperson Simon Khaya Moyo lied to the nation about MDC A leader Nelson Chamisa’ s remarks at the party Congress in Gweru, a political analyst has said.
Khaya Moyo claimed Chamisa uttered inflammatory words at the Congress.
“Those quarters who wish doom and agony to this great nation will never succeed,” said Khaya Moyo.
Khaya Moyo further accused Chamisa of attempting to “disturb the peace and tranquility in the country.”
Responding to Khaya Moyo’s remarks political analyst Jeffryson Chitando said:” The old man is telling blue lies and he must be ashamed of deliberately misleading the entire nation.”
Farai Dziva|A woman who claims a Zanu PF MP had s*x with her and abandoned her has vowed to expose the legislator’s shenanigans.
The woman, Henrietta Tafadzwa Rushwaya said Zanu PF MP for Mberengwa North, Tafanana Zhou had s*x with her after promising to marry her.
In court documents Zhou said Rushwaya should bring forth evidence to prove that he had s*x with her.
According to H-Metro Chauke has responded by promising to expose the MP with her evidence consisting of a video clip, WhatsApp chats as well as Ecocash transactions between her and the legislator who is now disowning her.
Congratulations To Lynette Karenyi Kore for Winning Vice Presidency. God's time is always the Best… Thank you for the support again Zimbabwe…. You were totally awesome' pic.twitter.com/KzTeNLgj2K
H-Metro|There was drama at Westlea Shopping Centre over the weekend when a man was brutally thrashed by her wife’s alleged boyfriend after he had caught them red-handed together.
The H-metro reports that all hell broke loose when Pasco Mueruza acting on a tip-off caught his wife Monica in a car with her alleged lover, identified as Shackstone Kavu.
Whilst still trying to gather up all the information, Pascal was thrashed by Kavu upon his arrival who claimed to be a tax body official and later claimed to be a policeman.
According to a close source, the couple were enjoying quality time in Westlea before they where interrupted.
” They were enjoying quality time in Westlea Shopping Centre when her husband arrived at the scene following a tip-off.
” During the scuffle, Pasco was beaten by the boyfriend,” said the source.
The matter was then reported at Mabelreign Police Station under RRB 4025656.
The publication reports that the suspect was still in custody.
Contacted for comment, Pasco confirmed the incident and said he was yet to make a decision on the matter.
” I was assaulted by my wife’s boyfriend after I caught them red-handed having a quality time in Westlea.
” I am still seeking medical attention because I was injured.
” I caught them red-handed.
“There were two men in the car and another woman alongside my wife,” he added.
“My wife has been coming home late and I even communicated with her bosses who promised to discuss the issue with her.
“My wife is cheating on me.
“After the incident, she went to her parent’s home in Waterfalls.”
According to the medical affidavit, Pasco was slapped in the face.
Efforts to get a comment from Monica were not fruitful as her mobile number was not reachable by the time of publishing.
Farai Dziva| A 52-year-old woman dragged her 96-year-old husband to court demanding spousal maintenance.
Musamadya Maisiyeko dragged her husband to Harare Civil Court demanding RTGS$200 per month from her elderly husband, Joseph Maisiyeko, arguing that he was in a position to give her the money because he was always receiving foreign currency from his children who are based outside the country.
She also argued that her husband was financially able to take care of her needs as he always received rent from his tenants.
Ironically, Musamadya’s application came a few weeks after Joseph successfully applied for a protection order against her.
Farai Dziva| In a stunning incited a man who was caught caressing a married woman went berserk and assaulted his lover’s husband.
The incident happened at Westlea Shopping Centre over the weekend.
The man, Pasco Mueruza, was brutally thrashed by her wife’s alleged boyfriend after he had caught them red-handed.
According to H-metro all hell broke loose when Mueruza acting on a tip-off caught his wife Monica in a car with her alleged lover, identified as Shackstone Kavu.
While still trying to gather up all the information, Pascal was thrashed by Kavu upon his arrival. Kavu claimed to be a tax body official.
The matter was then reported at Mabelreign Police Station under RRB 4025656.
Farai Dziva| The MDC A has presented economic recovery resolutions meant to restore the nation’s bread basket status.
See the party’s Congress resolutions- pertaining to the state of the economy:
National Economy
Through disastrous policies anchored on patronage and regime survival agendas, the ZANU PF administration has collapsed the economy which finds itself in a deep recession characterized by high unemployment, zero productivity, hyperinflation, an unsustainable debt, collapsed social services, terrible monetary policy and loss of value of working peoples salaries and pensions.
Congress therefore mandates the party to take action through dialogue and other constitutional means of ensuring that there is deep structural Reforms in the economy including –
(i) macro-economic stability and fiscal consolidation
(ii) a stable monetary policy including a return to the multi-currency regime and the demonetization of the RTGS dollar and its cousin, the bond note.
(iii) ensuring full employment and the preservation of the value of wages and pensions
(iv) a resolution of the country’s sovereign debt crisis through methods that do not ensure the country’s further indebtedness and the continued accumulation of unsustainable and odious debt.
(v) addressing poverty, social services and the creation of social safety nets.
(vi) the pursuit of a rigorous programme of the rural areas.
(vii) the pursuit of gross capital formation and infrastructural transformation focusing on roads, energy, dam and ICTs.
Own Correspondent|President Emmerson Mnangagwa is conspicuously giving Vice President Kembo Mohadi time to take over most of his duties while he remains unknown where he is.
Mohadi who has throughout his tenure been a very dormant Vice President is suddenly a very busy man presiding over most of the presidential duties.
In the latest move, President Mnangagwa has appointed Mohadi to stand on his behalf in mourning and burying the late national hero Dumiso Dabengwa.
Speaking to Dabengwa family members and friends on Sunday, Mohadi said the President will not attend the burial and has asked him to fully represent him throughout the mourning and burial.
Some sources, however, indicated that Mnangagwa is chickening out of the burial in fear a very hostile reception and embarrassment from Matabeleland mourners who blame him for Dabengwa’s persecution shortly after independence.
The source said. “You will be aware that DD will be buried in Ntabazinduna and Chief Nhlanhlayamangwe Ndiweni will definitely be given a platform and his views on Dabengwa are known.
“Dabengwa worked closely with MDC leader Nelson Chamisa and Welshman Ncube meaning these guys will be given a platform to speak at the event. It is with that background that the President is considering not attending to avoid being booed and facing a hostile environment.”
The late Zipra supremo will be buried at his rural home in Manxeleni, Ntabazinduna on 1 June 2019. His body arrived at JM Nkomo Airport in Bulawayo on Monday 27.05.19.
The source added that ZAPU and former ZPRA members were not happy with the way government had treated Dabengwa during Gukurahundi and known after his death where they sought to hijack his body so that it passes through Harare and ransported by Airforce of Zimbabwe.”
1. Unfortunately the executive is being miseld and advised in bad faith. A rift is developing between what is happening & what they are being told. Those that kept Mugabe in power have ring fenced the President. They know the party & leadership are headed for ruin.
2. Its not a matter of debate that things are sliding down the rabbit hole. And the biggest casualties of a total collapse will be the leadership itself. Mugabe was felled under less dire circumstances in 2017. Those that divorcing the leadership from the reality know this well.
3. While it makes sense to stick with people who kept Mugabe in power (proven track record) its a dangerous game to forget that they created a scenario where Mugabe did not even know or believe his close comrades would oversee his toppling.
4. The bottom line is its not just the citizens who are frustrated by the mess. Within the corridors of power many lever holders are frustrated because the worse things get the lesser the prospects of them ever getting a chance at the top seat.
5. The promise that Mthuli will lead a turn around that we are teething are not backed by any evidence. In any case citizens eat today, when they are hungry. You don’t tell a hungry man that their hunger is only temporary when they can see there is no pot on the stove.
6. @acielumumba said it the other day. A few others have. But the challenge is those that raise these concerns are fought tooth and nail. As the rift grows between what the leadership is told vs what is happening the possibility of Zanu PF retaining power is eroded.
7. As simple proof. Everyone blames the executive. Clinton did a heist ku Ministry of Transport. He did another ku Energy. People don’t blame him they blame his principal.
By Own Correspondent- Zanu Pf legislators today refused to observe a minute of silence for the late liberation war hero Dr Dumiso Dabengwa with the deputy speaker of parliament revealing that the august house does not observe a minute of silence for heroes who would have died while they are not members of parliament.
The development followed a request to observe a minute of silence for the late hero who died last week in Nairobi, Kenya while on his way from India where he had gone to seek treatment.
Independent legislator for Norton Temba Mliswa suggested that the house remember the late Dr Dabengwa not only for his role during the liberation struggle but also because he was a former member of parliament.
Mliswa also said observing a moment of silence was necessary to avoid fueling tribal controversy.
Said Tsitsi Gezi:
“We do not observe a minute of silence for liberation war heroes who die while they are not members of this house.”
So, while the High Court Judge Edith Mushore gave a ruling that the MDC should return to its 2014 structures and hold an Extra Ordinary Congress to elect a replacement of the party’s late founding President, Morgan Richard Tsvangirai, the same Judge gave the green light for the Advocate Nelson Chamisa-led party to proceed with its Congress that was held in Gweru over the past weekend, while Dr. Thokozani Khupe is reportedly proceeding with plans to hold an Extra Ordinary Congress in line with Justice Mushore’s earlier judgement and Advocate and Advocate Obert Gutu is salivating at the prospects of his party being given the property being used by Advocate Nelson Chamisa’s party, including wanting the share of the money being given to Advocate Chamisa’s party on account of its performance in the 2018 election. Whether the things Advocate Gutu is salivating for are feasible, I don’t know, but it portrays his Party and its leadership in very negative light, and add that to Dr Khupe’s remarks during an address of MDC members in the United Kingdom, which I still think were taken out of context, the average Zimbabwean will conclude that Dr Khupe’s MDC-T are just after money, a tag that is very hard to shake off.
So, if Justice Mushore’s request was for the Party to revert to its 2014 structures, will the Extra Ordinary Congress which Dr Khupe is reportedly preparing for be legitimate if it does not constitute the Party’s structures as at 2014? The two parties went into the 2018 elections separately, and even if one used the results announced by the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission which gave Advocate Chamisa’s over 44 per cent of the total votes cast and gave about one per cent to Dr Khupe, it boggles the mind to imagine how Dr Khupe can retain the structures the party had as at 2014. Questions then arise how constitutional in terms of the MDC Constitution as at 2014 would be Dr Khupe’s second Extra Ordinary Congress. Does she really think that her second attempt at an Extra Ordinary Congress will be any better than the first in terms of its constitutionality? My opinion is that she risks being dragged to the courts if she calls for an Extra-Ordinary General meeting, and proceeds with it without 90 per cent of the 2014 structures, and she will have dug her political grave.
Why then not agree that we have irreconcilable differences which cannot be resolved by court decisions and agree to part amicably and allow each other to go separate ways. While I am not a lawyer, I see that judgement as being only implementable only if there is love and mutual understanding between the two sides and a willingness by either side to get back together.
Dr Khupe, the fact that you are working on a second attempt at an Extra Ordinary Congress may be misunderstood by some that you are desperate, greedy, unreasoning and bitter, and I am sure you are none of that, so please show reason and maturity, call your brother Advocate Chamisa, hug and kiss each other goodbye. The two party leaders may as well discuss how they want to relate to each other as a brother and sister in the struggle, and how their parties can relate to each other too.
Let’s love each other as people who started off together as it makes it easier when at some later point in life we get attracted to each other again. After all, the bible says to love one another and love thy neighbour.
I want to thank the provinces that nominated me for the post of vice- president. Furthermore, l want to thank everyone who campaigned and voted for me.
Additionally, l want to congratulate newly elected vice president Professor Ncube, vice – president Advocate Tendai Biti and vice- president Lynette Karenyi- Kore. May God grant you grace and wisdom to execute your mandate. I pledge to support the capable President advocate Nelson Chamisa, the newly elected vice presidents and MDC family at large in our quest to liberate our country from ZANU PF.
I will remain loyal, brave, unifer and provide leadership.
These elections were FREE and FAIR. The election commission held these elections with intergrity and professionalism.
I salute the words of wisdom by our President Nelson Chamisa today in Gweru to the delegates as he was giving concluding remarks when he said: “Senator Komichi is a good strategist and we are going to deploy him somewhere to help the party. There is no loser because this is an internal result hence we are all winners.”
Then President Nelson Chamisa invited me to the stage and l responded: “God choose leaders as such, the newly leaders elected today are all from the Lord Almighty. I will continue working hard for this revolution”.
Let us not be divide by congress. Let us unite. No competition but let us compliment each other.
By Own Correspondent- Legendary gospel musician Mechanic Manyeruke — affectionately known as Baba Manyeruke — said he is still in the game, despite the emergence of many artistes in the genre.
Manyeruke revealed that he is back in the studio to record a new single dedicated to Cyclone Idai victims.
“I am happy that the genre is growing hence the new crop needs our advice to stay relevant like us. Right now I am working on a single for Cyclone Idai with my two sons Guspy and Alexander and it will be out in August.”
Added Manyeruke: “Some even asked how the song will be like fusing with Zimdancehall genre but it is going to be a masterpiece and sing-along. My boys are doing great and I am happy about it. Guspy chose to take that path because of his target market.”
The Madhimoni hitmaker said despite not having many shows, he is still surviving on music. I no longer hold major gigs or shows and you haven’t seen me on posters of late. Not that I am out of touch but I am now focusing on church functions, weddings and parties among others.
“Music has been part of my life and I am living through it. I am also a farmer,” he said.
He added that a lot of gospel musicians still approach him for collaborations.
“I get a lot of calls from various musicians, asking for a collaboration. I have worked with others and some songs are still in pre-production. I just encourage and urge upcoming musicians that in order to stay relevant just be yourself, don’t try to imitate other cultures,” he said.
Manyeruke last year released the album “Dzokororo” which had some of his old songs.
By Own Correspondent- A Harare policeman accused of raping and killing his stepdaughter was yesterday back in court with an additional charge of indecent assault. He is said to have s.e.xually assaulted a male taxi driver. The case of murder was deferred to June 10 while the indecent assault case was remanded to June 24.
In that particular case, it is alleged that Mageyo phoned Jalasi on March 30, requesting to meet him at the corner of Mbuya Nehanda Street and Kwame Nkrumah Avenue.
The court heard that they later hired a taxi to Eclipse Night Club where they met Murape who was drinking beer with friends. It is alleged that they stopped briefly at the night club before leaving for Kebab Centre in Murape’s vehicle.
On their way Mageyo asked to be dropped at his home but Jalasi told him to stay put since they were not going to take long at Kebab.
It is alleged that upon arrival at Kebab Centre, Murape gave Mageyo a glass containing ice and a bluish substance which he said was beer and he drank it.
The court heard that after a few minutes Mageyo started feeling dizzy and Murape told them that they had to leave the place. It is the State’s case that Mageyo became unconscious only to wake up at a house unknown to him in Greendale.
Jalasi allegedly told Mageyo that they could not leave the place since Murape was drunk and was unable to drive them home and that there were no commuter omnibuses to take them to town. The court heard that the three slept on the same bed with Mageyo in the middle.
It is alleged that Mageyo woke up after feeling some pain and discovered that Murape was abusing him. Mageyo allegedly pushed away Murape and discovered that Jalasi was no longer in the room.
By Own Correspondent- Morgen Komichi, outgoing MDC vice president has said that he is hurt by his loss as he expected victory at the just ended elective congress.
Komichi failed to retain his post as the Congress chose his rivals, Tendai Biti and Welshman Ncube.
Speaking at the Congress after his loss, Komichi said:
President (Nelson Chamisa) the line up that is before you today is the design of the Lord, you can not change it. When God designs the leadership all we have to do is follow.
As a human being who has been foreseeing victory, it is natural to feel hurt and disappointed. However, one should quickly accept it. Its the voters who have selected these leaders, so who am I to go against the people’s choice.
Komichi, however, pledged to give full support to the winning candidates and the party president.
He said:
I will never abandon the revolution, neither will I leave my young man (Chamisa). Please help me to heal because I want to. I will support the president and the entire team with anything they need from me.
He managed to get 1 306 votes which fell short to Biti’s 1 672 and Ncube’s whopping 1 917.-263Chat
