Farai Dziva|MDC T leader Thokozani Khupe believes the late liberation war supremo Dumiso Dabengwa got a befitting send off from Emmerson Mnangagwa’s government.

In an interview with ZimEye.com Khupe praised the government for honouring Dabengwa.

Asked whether she did not feel the government disrespected the Dabengwa family Khupe said:

” They were there, government was there, they were represented. Ministers were there they represented government. I saw Monica Mutsvangwa.

I saw them -they were there. Because government is not just one person mind you, government is not one person it is the whole executive.”

By Farai D Hove| Before going on maternity leave, Sports Minister Kirsty Coventry had dissolved the previous Sports And Recreation Board due to concerns that it was interfering with her functions.

She managed to run the ministry well without a bloated payroll.

While she is away on leave, the Emmerson Mnangagwa administration has moved to oppose her by appointing another board, slapping her in the face. The board is headed by none other than Mnangagwa’s son in law, Gerald Mlotshwa, something MDC President Nelson Chamisa had last year warned that Mnangagwa just wants to trouble kamdidi kedu kanodida aka- this our great swimmer.

Below is a bill of evidence showing Emmerson Mnangagwa’s son in law’s new powers.

He was appointed Board Chairman and will enjoy these powers for the next 5 years.

The below extraction which is from the official Second Schedule of the Sports And Recreation Commissions Act, as ZimEye reveals, shows that Mlotshwa has in several ways taken over Kirsty Coventry’s job. FULL TEXT – His exclusive powers are:

1. To acquire premises necessary or convenient for the exercise of its functions and for that purpose to buy,
2. To take in exchange, hire or otherwise acquire immovable property and interests therein and rights thereover
   and concessions, grants, powers and privileges thereof.
3. To buy, take in exchange, hire or otherwise acquire movable property necessary or convenient for the exercise of its functions.
4. To make contracts and to enter into suretyships or give guarantees in connection with the exercise of its functions and to modify or rescind such contracts or rescind such suretyships or guarantees.
5. To employ, upon such terms and conditions as the Board may think fit, such persons as may be necessary for conducting the affairs of the Commission and suspend or discharge any such persons.
6. To provide pecuniary benefits for its employees on their retirement, resignation, discharge or other termina-tion of service or in the event of their sickness or injury and for their dependants, and for that purpose to effect policies of insurance, establish pension or provident funds or make such other provision as may be necessary to secure for its employees and their dependants any or all of the pecuniary benefits to which the provisions of this paragraph relate.

By Rumbidzai Madhibha| A Mufakose man went beserk when his two year old daughter fell into a pit dug by city of Harare last year, injuring herself in the process.

A furious Onai Mapanda (41) told Zimeye that his daughter fell into the trench while following her mother who was sweeping the yard in the morning.

He said:

“I am disturbed by the negligence of the city fathers. Can you imagine they left these pits last year when they were repairing the blockage of a sewerage system? They even had the audacity to destroy my fence and gate in that process and they never fixed it leaving me to foot the bill.”

Mapinda said he tried engaging the councillor for Mufakose ward 36, Loveness Gomba who came to see how much was destroyed towards the end of last year and promised that the local authority would come and repair the damage. To date, they have never returned.”

The trench is in an area connecting the main road and Mufakose poly clinic, Mutiunokura primary, Mufakose 3 High and Tendai primary schools

Mapanda said the pits are even making movement difficult for the elderly who would want to go to the clinic for their regular check ups as they have to use a longer route.

Added Mapanda’s wife:

“I was terrified when I saw my daughter rolling in the pit covered in dust. The child however sustained some minor injuries on her leg, hand and fore head.”

Efforts to get a comment from the city fathers were futile by the time of writing.

Farai D Hove|Chief Felix Ndiweni’s prophecy that God Almighty will make someone lose his mind so to stop them reaching where they thought they were going, was somewhat fulfilled on the same day, it has emerged.

Yesterday, Emmerson Mnangagwa and his administration caused mirth for many as they placated his portrait at the Ntabazinduna burial site, instead of the late Dumiso Dabengwa.

News readers mocked Mnangagwa for placating his picture as if he was the one who had passed away. 

Others stated outrightly that Mnangagwa had lost his mind.

Chief Ndiweni said that the Almighty God would soon deny someone vision to stop them going where they thought they were going.

Chief Ndiweni was speaking at the holy Ntabazinduna mountain during the burial of the late ZAPU President Dumiso Dabengwa.

Said Ndiweni, “On many occasions the Lord God Almighty will deny someone knowledge.

“The Lord God Almighty will deny someone vision. The Lord God Almighty will deny someone hearing, to stop them going where they thought they were going.

“In Zimbabwe, why would ubaba Dabengwa come from Ntabazinduna? He could have come from Lupane, Tsholotsho, many other places. He comes from Ntabazinduna, he is ours.”

Kids in Emmerson Mmangagwa’s town gave Nelson Chamisa a mobbing as they demanded he be made president. Below were the dramatic scenes:

https://youtu.be/NywbQkGqU9A

By Farai D Hove| Chief Felix Ndiweni’s prophecy that God Almighty will make someone lose his mind so to stop them reaching where they thought they were going, was somewhat fulfiled on the same day, it has emerged.

Yesterday, Emmerson Mnangagwa and his administration caused mirth for many as they placated his portrait at the Ntabazinduna burial site, instead of the late Dumiso Dabengwa.

News readers mocked Mnangagwa for placating his picture as if he is the one who has passed away.  Others stated outrightly that Mnangagwa has lost his mind.

Chief Ndiweni said that the Almighty God will soon deny someone vision to stop them going where they thought they were going.

Chief Ndiweni was speaking at the holy Ntabazinduna mountain during the burial of the late ZAPU President Dumiso Dabengwa.

Said Ndiweni, “On many occasions the Lord God Almighty will deny someone knowledge.

“The Lord God Almighty will deny someone vision. The Lord God Almighty will deny someone hearing, to stop them going where they thought they were going.

“In Zimbabwe, why would ubaba Dabengwa come from Ntabazinduna? He could have come from Lupane, Tsholotsho, many other places. He comes from Ntabazinduna, he is ours.”

Below is the speech (part transcript) by Chief Felix Ndiweni at the burial of the late national hero, Dumiso Dabengwa:

Thank you very much. Than you very much great people.

We have a very important job to accomplish today. Thinking of our past, our history. I am asking those standing to sit down, to respect. Today we are going to be very firm.

You are not here by mistake…in Ntabazinduna by mistake. On many occasions the Lord God Almighty will deny someone knowledge. The Lord God Almighty will deny someone vision. The Lord God Almighty will deny someone hearing, to stop them going where they thought they were going. In Zimbabwe, why would ubaba Dabengwa come from Ntabazinduna? He could have come from Lupane, Tsholotsho, many other places. He comes from Ntabazinduna, he is ours.

CLAP CLAP.

I speak of Ntabazinduna because right behind me there, you will see the mountain, Ntabazinduna, the mountain that formed this nation in this part of the country. It is not just a mountain. Land is just not land, Land is spiritual, mountain is spiritual. Moses and the burning bush on the mount Sinai, on the mountain, as with us, as with us.

Moses with the 10 Commandments on the mountain, as with us, as with us. Where-ever you look in the scriptures, the Messiah in the garden just before Iscariot betrayed him, on the mountain top, as with us, as with us.

So I am trying to pass over to you that it is not just a mountain. And even if you go to Psalm 37 you will find an amazement, land is not free, land has a condition. The Lord God Almighty says if you are righteous in my sight, I will give you the land and also your descendants …that land. if you are wicked I will take that land from you….

All these people have come to give honour to this great hero, and they have come to observe how we have laid this great hero to rest. If we have buried him the wrong way, they will have to say it. This is very touchy and says a lot about our country.

By Nomusa Garikai- “While indeed we still say to those who imposed sanctions on us, remove them because there is no justification for the embargo, we should not bury our heads in sand because of those sanctions,” said President Mnangagwa.  

“We should realise that we have resources in our country. We must therefore focus on harnessing those resources to develop, modernise and industrialise our country and our economy.”

Mr President, Zimbabwe is in a very serious economic situation right now and the root cause is that for the last 39 years the country has been ruled by the men and women who have their “heads buried in the sand”, as you aptly put it. Consider your statements above:

1. Zimbabwe economic decline started soon after independence in 1980 and by 1990 Zanu PF was forced to adopt two five-year Economic Structural Adjustment Programmes (ESAP), in the hope of reviving the economy. The two programmes failed to deliver the economic recovery and by 2001 when the west imposed the sanctions the Zimbabwe’s economy was already in the gutter.
2. Even if one accepted that the sanctions are the root cause of Zimbabwe’s economic meltdown. After 20 years of “harnessing our resources, modernising and industrialising our country” without success, the economy has sunk deeper and deeper into the abyss these last 20 years, surely it is high time Zanu PF admitted it has failed.

The root cause of Zimbabwe’s economic meltdown is not the sanction but the criminal waste of the nation’s human and material resources through gross mismanagement and rampant corruption. Ordinarily, the nation would have nipped these problems in the bud by holding those ruling and ruining the nation to democratic account and, ultimately, remove them from office. Zanu PF rigged the elections and so the nation was stuck with the incompetent, corrupt and tyrannical regime.

Zanu PF blatantly rigged last year’s elections to impose itself on a nation dying, literally, for free, fair and credible elections. 

As long as Zimbabwe remains a pariah state ruled by incompetent, corrupt and vote rigging thugs the economic meltdown will only get worse. You, Mr President, can falsely blame the sanctions for the country’s economic woes and pretend you can rig economic recover; you are burying your head in the sand. The economic meltdown will only get worse.

The only way out is for Zimbabwe to cure itself of the criminal waste of the country’s resource by curing itself of the curse of rigged elections. Zanu PF rigged last year’s elections, the regime is illegitimate and must step down. By stepping down, Zanu PF will create to political time and space for the appointment of an interim administration tasked to implement the democratic reforms and to hold free, fair and credible elections.

“We should not have sanctions impugn our capacity and capability to use our resources to the benefit of our people. We should rise using the resources at our disposal and move forward,” said Mnangagwa.

Zanu PF has been promising to revive the economy for donkey years and year on year things have got progressively worse and worse. The regime is using the same discredited claim to justify hanging on to power. The regime will also use brute force to silence all dissent. Zanu PF is holding the nation to ransom and we must say no!

If Zanu PF remains in power until 2023, the party will rig the elections to extend its ruinous rule by another five years.

The greatest challenge before us all today is to make sure that Zimbabwe’s 2023 elections are free, fair and credible. After 39 years of rigged elections and paying dearly for our folly it will be insane to let Zanu PF rig the elections ever again!

Own Correspondent|Zanu-PF and government officials and their supporters embarrassed themselves when they walked away from the Dumiso Dabengwa burial proceedings when it was revealed that both Nelson Chamisa and Chief Nhlanhla Ndiweni had been added into the list of speakers.

Among those who immediately left the village was Information and Publicity Minister, Monica Mutsvangwa, Deputy Minister of Defence and War Veterans, Victor Matemadanda , Small and Medium Enterprises’ Sithembiso Nyoni and Speaker of the National Assembly, Jacob Mudenda.

The Joint Operations Command which had assumed running of the burial proceedings of the national hero, Dabengwa, tried by all means to block the two from being accommodated not only in the speakers list but also in the VIP list.

It took the insistence of Dabengwa’s widow Zodwa Dabengwa to demand that the two be included in the list of speakers.

By Talent Gondo| Leader of the breakaway faction of the MDC Dr Thokozani Khupe has appreciated government interventions at the funeral of the late national hero Dr Dumiso Dabengwa.

Khupe revealed that while she does not like talking about leader of the other breakaway faction of the MDC Nelson Chamisa, it should be appreciated that government intervened and the late liberation hero had a decent send off.

ZimEye (QN) spoke to Dr Khupe (TK) and below are excerpts of the interview:

TK: I came almost at the same time with the minister of state.

QN: Do you have a comment on Emmerson Mnangagwa’s failure to attend burial?

TK: I don’t have a comment because I don’t know why. I don’t have a comment.

QN: You don’t feel it was weird or awkward for South Africa to send its representatives and yet he was not in attendance only his portrait was there and I’m talking about also the portrayal of the portrait at the front of the podium instead of Dumiso Dabengwa’s picture?

TK:But but but as you know that he was declared a national hero and government did all these things that were there, so for me I think I really appreciate because got a decent send off everything went on very well all the preparations transport, paperwise, everything. So for me I really appreciate the role that they did. In making sure that he gets a good send off.

QN: And what about the giving Nelson chamisa space to speak as if he is President?

Do you feel that was right?

TK: But but I don’t like commenting about other people, that’s my nature so I don’t have any comment on that.

QN: But generally as we conclude, how do you find everything, how do you find the way the funeral was handled by the government do you feel that they were fair on the Dabengwa family?

TK: I went to the house and you know everything was going on very well and the funeral everything went on very well as far as I know because that’s a funeral. They were going to…

QN: You don’t feel that the government disrespected the Dabengwa family?

TK: They were there, government was there, they were represented Ministers were there they represented government. I saw Monica Mutsvangwa, the ministers of state I saw them they were there. Because government is not just one person mind you, government is not one person it is the whole executive.

By Own Correspondent| The former board chairperson of the Zimbabwe Association of Doctors for Human Rights (ZADRH) Dr Rutendo Bonde has died.

Dr Bonde died last night at her home in Chegutu.

Said Dr Norman Matara:

https://twitter.com/nomara007/status/1135117904150749185?s=19

State Media|STATE-OWNED mobile telecommunications firm, NetOne has introduced two mobile data packages as part of its efforts to cushion its subscribers in the wake of rising costs.

NetOne marketing, public relations and customer experience executive Dr Eldrette Shereni said the mobile network operator has introduced data bundles, which enable subscribers to access internet connectivity at night up until the morning of the following day at a relatively cheap price.

The bundles have one option going for $1 and netting the subscriber 1 gigabyte (GB) between 10pm and 5am. This will undoubtedly be welcomed by subscribers who are normally being asked to fork out $5 for 1.2 GB valid for 24 hours. Thus there is now an option that is five times cheaper and gives one close to the same amount of data.

“NetOne is redefining itself to be a World Class digital network that focuses on value in every product or service it offers. We realised that the cost of data is now out of reach for most Zimbabweans who love to stay connected at all times and we then introduced a special ‘Night Rider’ data bundle that gives every NetOne customer a right to quality, value access between 10pm and 5am of the following morning,” said Dr Shereni.

The “Night Rider” data bundle is most likely to be welcomed by students accustomed to studying during the night or the early hours of the day as it would offer them an opportunity to browse the internet.

“Customers all over have ultimatums from a network that serves them and us introducing such a bundle is a testimony of how we believe in access to everybody. Our customers are beyond excited by this offer since it allows them to study, chat, connect and express themselves in any way they like over the internet,” said Dr Shereni.

NetOne has also introduced social media bundles in a bid to cater for the ever-growing users of social networks.

“Introducing social media bundles, Facebook and Instagram is a step toward a full circle access to the popular social media sites in our country. That says we now have the WhatsApp bundle which allows for quality chats, voice and video calling, the Facebook bundle that also allows for instant connection and sharing of special moments plus the Instagram bundle for those of our customers who “love things.” Within our theme of creating a World Class — network…,” said Dr Shereni.

VIDEO LOADING BELOW…

By Staff Correspondent| Dr Thokozani Khupe, the leader of the MDC faction, has said government did not disrespect the Dumiso Dabengwa family during the national hero’s burial at Ntabazinduna yesterday.

Dr Khupe (TK) speaks to ZimEye.com and below is the full text –

TK: I came almost at the same time with the minister of state.

ZimEye: Do you have a comment on Emmerson Mnangagwa’s failure to attend burial?

TK: I don’t have a comment because I don’t know why. I don’t have a comment.

ZimEye: You don’t feel it was weird or awkward for South Africa to send its representatives and yet he was not in attendance only his portrait was there and I’m talking about also the portrayal of the portrait at the front of the podium instead of Dumiso Dabengwa’s picture?

TK:But but but as you know that he was declared a national hero and government did all these things that were there, so for me I think I really appreciate because he got a decent send off; everything went on very well all the preparations transport, paperwise, everything. So for me I really appreciate the role that they did, in making sure that he gets a good send off.

ZimEye: And what about the giving Nelson chamisa space to speak as if he is President?

Do you feel that was right?

TK: But but I don’t like commenting about other people, that’s my nature so I don’t have any comment on that.

ZimEye: But generally as we conclude, how do you find everything, how do you find the way the funeral was handled by the government do you feel that they were fair on the Dabengwa family?

TK: I went to the house and you know everything was going on very well and the funeral everything went on very well as far as I know because that’s a funeral. They were going to…

ZimEye: You don’t feel that the government disrespected the Dabengwa family?

TK: They were there, government was there, they were represented Ministers were there they represented government. I saw Monica Mutsvangwa, the ministers of state I saw them they were there. Because government is not just one person mind you, government is not one person it is the whole executive.

By Own Correspondent- President Emmerson Mnangagwa said the country has been under sanctions for a long time resulting in the collapse of the economy. 

This, he said, left the country’s development stagnated.

Said Mnangagwa:

“While indeed we still say to those who imposed sanctions on us, remove them because there is no justification for the embargo, we should not bury our heads in sand because of those sanctions.

We should realise that we have resources in our country. We must therefore focus on harnessing those resources to develop, modernise and industrialise our country and our economy.

We should not have sanctions impugn our capacity and capability to use our resources to the benefit of our people. We should rise using the resources at our disposal and move forward.”-StateMedia

By Own Correspondent- Zimbabweans have been urged to be wary of the social media which is being used by the country’s detractors to influence and shape opinion.

Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services Minister Monica Mutsvangwa said citizens should not allow social media to shape their opinion of the country since agents of regime change such as MDC-Alliance leader Nelson Chamisa and his allies were using it to post subversive statement aimed at unseating the elected Government.

She said:

“There is need to monitor the use of social media at all levels since it is being abused by the country’s detractors to influence opinion.”

She narrated how some mischievous individuals have gone to the extent of creating fake twitter accounts of eminent persons such as the president of the chief’s council Chief Fortune Charumbira and Zimbabwe National Liberation War Veterans’ leader and her husband Cde Christopher Mutsvangwa and posting tweets denouncing the President, party and Government.

“This infiltration is to cause division among top Government officials,” she said.-StateMedia

By Own Correspondent- PRESIDENT Mnangagwa did not attend liberation struggle icon Dr Dumiso Dabengwa’s burial in the spirit of respecting the bereaved family’s request for privacy, presidential spokesperson George Charamba revealed.

Charamba said this in a brief interview soon after President Mnangagwa officially opened the Zimbabwe Annual Mining Conference in Victoria Falls recently.

He however said President Mnangagwa had sent a representative for the burial of Dr Dabengwa’s home area in Emanxeleni, Ntabazinduna in Matabeleland North.

“If a national hero’s family accepts the designation of national hero but opts for private burial, immediately the State President cannot participate directly except through delegated authority. The moment the President gets to that, it means we take over and that breaches the privacy and control of the family. So he will be represented at an appropriate level,” said Charamba.

He said a similar scenario has been used with other national heroes who were declared national heroes but their families opted for private burials.

“In short the President doesn’t go. This is for the purpose of upholding the privacy and control preferred by the bereaved family but more critically to also protect the National Heroes’ Acre because the moment we allow people to have a bite of the cherry then we are undermining the national shrine,” said Mr Charamba.

President Mnangagwa left Victoria Falls soon after officially opening the mining conference because of other commitments in Harare.

Last week he mourned the death of Dr Dabengwa saying the former Zipra intelligence supremo was and will always remain a hero. 

Dr Dabengwa died in Nairobi, Kenya last week while en-route to Zimbabwe from India where he had been taken for medical treatment. The late national hero who died from a liver related illness, was 79.-StateMedia

By Own Correspondent- Former ZBC broadcaster, who is now a self proclaimed Prophet Oscar Pambuka is set to conduct his first ever church service in Houghton Park, Harare.

It started off as a joke on Wednesday morning when Pambuka kindly asked his Facebook family to refer to him as Prophet Oscar Pambuka henceforth.

Then as confirmation that it was not a joke after all, Zimbabweans networked through the same social media platform (Facebook) on Thursday woke up to the announcement by Pambuka that he would be conducting his first service today in Houghton Park.

The reactions to the two announcements were mixed; whilst others took the cautious and biblical approach, that we should judge not, others were forthright: Oscar is no prophet and should be no prophet.

Then on Friday morning, asserting his newly-found profession and kindly reminding the Facebook community not to judge him, rather to mind their own business, Pambuka posted yet again.

“Yesterday I revealed that I am a ‘prophet’ and all hell broke loose because I saw that most of you don’t even know what the term ‘prophet’ means. A simple definition of a ‘prophet’ is an inspired teacher or proclaimer of God’s will.

“I also saw that most of you are used to the theatrical and trance-making prophets who tell you that the undergarments you are wearing is black or white, ignoring those who proclaim God’s will.”

Expectedly, the reactions to the three Facebook postings were as unforgiving as they were exalting.

But how does one exactly become a pastor, prophet or bishop? Is it by anointment, appointment or ordainment?

Shingai Rukwata Ndoro, who has not made his views on religion, and especially Christianity, a secret, was quick to proffer an explanation: “Prophet, pastor, senior pastor, elder, bishop, etc, it is all the same in that part of the world. I would advise him to call himself pastor.”

But Pambuka is adamant that he is a “prophet” who heads the Oscar Pambuka Ministries.

Whilst it can be argued that anyone can receive such a calling, what has not escaped the attention of many, especially the thousands that follow Pambuka on Facebook, is that his postings and comments, even after revealing that he is now a “prophet”, have been littered with expletives, a behaviour which many see as unbecoming of a man-of-the-cloth.

Rising to national prominence as a news anchor on national broadcaster, ZTV, Pambuka was to cement his love with television audiences by hosting Melting Pot, an issues-based programme in which he invited different guests to the studio to discuss burning topics.

He then joined Prophet Walter Magaya’s Prophetic, Healing and Deliverance Ministries, where at one time he was the church’s spokesperson. He left the church in unclear circumstances.

He was to join hands with another equally controversial man-of-the-cloth, Prophet Talent Madungwe, who claimed to have conversed with God over the phone and arrested Satan.

Some are arguing that Pambuka got his inspiration from his interactions with the two prophets.

But then came the allegations, and conviction, that he, together with former Highfield legislator Psychology Maziwisa, had swindled the Zimbabwe Electricity Supply Authority of $12 000 through misrepresentation.

Last December, the pair was caged six-and-half years and they were only released on bail when they appealed both sentence and conviction.

In-between, he had flirtations with dancehall artistes, which saw him try his hand recording some songs, many which did not make it onto mainstream radio charts.

Given the shadowy and care-free lifestyles of dancehall artistes, many of his Facebook friends have been quick to condemn his sudden conversion into a “prophet”.

To which he had a ready answer: “Carry your own cross and let God the Creator of everything judge, not us beings fighting for our own salvation. That prophet, pastor or whatever you call it, you listen to at your church, did God speak from the Heavens and say this man or woman is from me?

“Who are you to say this person does not qualify or qualifies?

‘‘God is not a politician that he takes sides and favours numbers. Not at all. God loves that person who follows His will. Period. You can be one or two out of millions, it’s ok. Prophets are not voted into office like you think or need to be ordained on Facebook.”

It remains to be seen how Christians will react to Oscar Pambuka Ministries, or as he claimed during the week, that miracles galore await those who will make it to Prophet Pambuka’s service today.-StateMedia

State Media|The Zimbabwe United Passengers’ Company (Zupco) is expected to take delivery of additional new buses this week, most of which will be deployed to rural areas, as Government broadens social safety nets to cushion vulnerable members of society from the vagaries of current austerity measures.

The new buses will grow the company’s fleet from the current 255 buses servicing the country’s major towns and cities, of which 212 are provided by the private sector.

More deliveries are, however, expected as Government recently purchased 300 buses — 200 from South Africa and 100 from China — to provide a cheaper alternative mode of transport for the commuting public.

In the medium term, Belarus will supply an additional 500 buses under a deal that was struck by President Emmerson Mnangagwa during his State visit to Minsk in January this year.

Zupco’s acting chief executive officer Mr Evaristo Madangwa told The Sunday Mail that most of the new buses that will be delivered this week will ply rural routes.

“We are expecting the next batch of buses in the country during the first week of June.

“These buses will not be centralised in urban areas only, but to rural areas as well, for most buses that came into the country were being deployed in urban areas, mainly Harare and Bulawayo, but these will be extended to rural routes,” he said.

Relief

Government’s targeted intervention through providing subsidised transport is meant to insulate commuters from extortionate fares charged by private transport operators.

It is believed that Treasury, which is currently buoyed by monthly budget surpluses of $100 million, is allocating $8 million per month in subsidies to Zupco.

The parastatal has also found favour with commuters as it is conveniently accepting all forms of payment, most particularly prepaid cards and other electronic payments.

“We have vendors who are selling these (prepaid) cards on loading bays . . . They explain to customers on how the system works.

“So far we haven’t yet had any complaints or challenges with the (electronic ticketing) system from customers said Mr Madangwa.

The parastatal is targeting to install the new system in all its buses.

Reviving the country’s mass transport system is one of the many measures that Government is pursuing to deepen social safety nets, especially in the wake of the inherent pain associated with austerity measures as authorities move in to stabilise the economy.

Government has since started rolling out the food relief programme for both rural and urban areas to guarantee food security.

More safety nets are expected in health delivery, education, housing and basic commodities.

Finance and Economic Development Minister Professor Mthuli Ncube, however, believes that the austerity measures will be wrapped up next year.

Prof Ncube recently told The Sunday Mail that Government was cognisant of the pain being experienced by the public and would, therefore, provide “multi-faceted” safety nets for the citizens.

“The social protection strategy of the Government is a multi-faceted package and includes food distribution to vulnerable groups in rural and urban areas, higher budget support for basic education and health services and subsidised transportation by Zupco, inter alia,” he said.

The recent El Nino-induced drought and fallout from Cyclone Idai, he added, had imposed an extra burden on the State.

“Development partners are also involved in social protection programmes involving food distribution and cash transfers. . .

“The social protection package will go a long way in ameliorating the negative impact of the drought, climate change (Cyclone Idai) and inflationary pressures,” added the Treasury chief.

In a separate interview, Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare Minister Dr Sekai Nzenza said owing to the severity of this year’s drought, Government had put in place measures to ensure food security.

She said provision of food relief to urban dwellers had started in Harare and Bulawayo, and would be intensified in the coming weeks. “The food relief programme is going well. We are covering all provinces. We have also started to identify people who are really hungry in urban areas. That is not an easy task,” she said.

Cabinet is receiving weekly updates on the country’s food security situation.

Tanzanian President Dr John Magufuli last week offered to sell 700 000 tonnes of maize to Zimbabwe after the East African country recorded a surplus in the 2018/2019 farming season.

Further, United Nations resident coordinator Mr Bishow Parajuli said the UN was closely working with Government to reduce the impact of the drought and Cyclone Idai.

By Farai D Hove| Emmerson Mnangagwa’s son in law, Gerald Mlothswa has taken over the Sports And Recreation Commission board

Everything has happened in Minister Kirsty Coventry (currently on maternity leave)’s absence, and ZimEye could not get convincing confirmation that she has approved the sudden move which comes after she fired the previous board.

And does Zimbabwe need an SRC in the first place? ZimEye found that the board has quasi ministerial powers hence the clash with Coventry last year.

Mlotshwa will head the government board which has ministerial powers for the next 5 years.

The announcement was made by the acting minister of Youth, Sport, Arts and Recreation, Kazembe Kazembe.

In addition to Mlotshwa, Kazembe Kazembe named Dr Allen Chiura, former Zimbabwe Rugby Union chief executive Colleen de Jong, and former ZIFA board member and Aces Youth Soccer Academy founder and director Nigel Munyati as commissioners.

Others named are: Karen Mutasa and veteran sports administrator Titus Zvomuya have been roped into the new board as well as Prince Mupazviriho (director-general).

Said Kazembe, “as the Acting Minister of Youth, Sport, Arts and Recreation with the approval of His Excellency the President of the Republic of Zimbabwe and on behalf of the minister, I have the great pleasure to announce the new SRC board.

“The board is appointed in line with the terms of Section 5 of the Sport and Recreation Commission Act (Chapter 25:15) and will take effect from the 1st of June 2019,” ready part of the statement.

Zimbabwe currently faces several major competitions, including the Africa Cup of Nations in Egypt from June 21 to July 19, the Netball World Cup in July and the African Games in August.

The SRC has quasi ministerial powers. It was created by an Act of Parliament Chapter 25:15 of 1991. A reading says the Sports and Recreation Commission derives its mandate from the Sports and Recreation Commission Act and reports to the Ministry responsible for sport. Part of the mandate of the Sports and Recreation Commission is to facilitate for the accessibility of sport and recreation programmes to the people of Zimbabwe and to oversee the general running of sport and recreation programmes by the National Sports Associations.

SHOCKING revelations of deep-seated rot and corporate malfeasance have been unearthed at the Zimbabwe Electricity Supply Authority (Zesa), where millions of United States dollars were siphoned through elaborate schemes of overpayments, purchase of obsolete equipment, luxury vehicles and accessories for the parastatal’s fat cats.

The findings, which are contained in a voluminous 6 000-page report dated 22 January 2019, compiled by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), have since been described by the newly-appointed Minister of Energy and Power Development, Advocate Fortune Chasi, as “horrendous” and “frightening”.

The probe was ordered by the Ministry of Energy and Power Development and the Office of the Auditor-General, Mrs Mildred Chiri, in April 2018.

According to investigations, Zesa Holdings and its subsidiaries — Zesa Enterprises (Zent), Powertel, Zimbabwe Power Company (ZPC) and Zimbabwe Electricity Transmission and Distribution Company (ZETDC) — haemorrhaged millions of dollars through rampant corruption and gross mismanagement.

Most notably, investigators unearthed a curious pattern through which the parastatals’ management disregarded procurement regulations and invariably overpaid for critical materials needed by Zesa.

Red flags were mainly raised over the questionable relationship between the power utility and Indian firm PME Power Solutions, which was roped-in in 2010 to supply transformers for various suburbs in Harare.

Interestingly, Zesa, through Zent, signed four contracts with PME on 26 November 2010 for materials for Glen Norah, Epworth, Mufakose and Greystone substations. While Zent was supposed to make a down payment of US$6,2 million to PME, it reportedly curiously overpaid by US$3,2 million, particularly at a time when the unit by experiencing cash flow problems.

PwC concluded that “by making the advance payment to PME in excess of the amount due by US$3 207 680 and taking into consideration that Zent had been experiencing cash flow problems in the period under review, this further worsened Zent’s cash flow position.”

It was also alleged that Zent paid PME US$11 million without purchase orders, in breach of Section 45 (c) of the Public Finance Management Act and the Technology Transfer Agreement (TTA) between the two entities, which states that materials were to be supplied after a written request.

However, Zent managers who were interviewed by the PwC blamed Zesa’s group chief executive officer, Engineer Joshua Chifamba, for the anomaly. He, however, denied the charges.

But auditors accuse Eng Chifamba for authorising the overpayment using a facility from the Commercial Bank of Zimbabwe (CBZ). They also recommend disciplinary action against officials culpable of the anomaly.

But there seemed to have been a suspicious relationship between Zesa and the Indian firm, which bled the parastatal through inflating the cost of supplied materials.

A comparative survey of materials supplied by PME and five other companies — Industrial Production Solutions, Zhengzhou LP Industry, Wilee (Transwire) South Africa, Dash Petroleum and Energy Services (India) — indicated that prices of PME’s products were inflated by more than 47 percent.

When concern was raised on the extortionate prices, PME purportedly reviewed its prices by between 12 percent and 20 percent without objection.

Notwithstanding the price review, Zesa, however, still paid Value Added Tax (VAT) to the Zimbabwe Revenue Authority (Zimra) based on the high invoice values, prejudicing Zesa of more than US$450 000.

As if that was not enough, it is also believed that Zent could have wasted US$1,5 million from purchasing equipment such as transformer testers, regulators, transformers, alternators and capacity voltage dividers that were never used until some of the software became outdated.

Some of the materials were bought as far back as 1998 and 2011. It was the same pattern for other subsidiaries such as ZETDC, which reportedly paid Pito Investment and Enleaver US$2,9 million for works and materials without advance guarantees that are meant to hedge the company against prejudice.

Most absurdly, some of ZETDC buyers even had the audacity to source quotations via the telephone in contravention of standing procurement regulations and company procedures.

However, in what could rank as an example of egregious greed and shameless abuse of resources, particularly for an entity that is considered to be technically insolvent, Zesa Holdings’ fat cats reportedly splurged US$600 000 between 2012 and 2017 on executive vehicles for Eng Chifamba.

Eng Chifamba took delivery of a Mercedes Benz S350 worth US$209 202,93 on 10 June 2011 before buying a Toyota Landcruiser (ACO3070) valued at US$175 790 on 23 March 2012. He topped up his top-of-the-range fleet with a Mercedes Benz GL350D (ADY9279) worth US$126 785,22.

On July 12, 2017, Eng Chifamba also got a Toyota Fortuner, which set the parastatal back by US$65 789,55. Curiously, Eng Chifamba’s contract did not put a cap on the value of the vehicle the CEO could buy, which effectively gave him a blank cheque.

Zesa’s group financial controller, Mr Eliab Chikwenhere, also took part in the looting frenzy as he was allocated a Toyota Landcruiser worth US$156 087,47 in 2009, exceeding his contractual limit of US$130 000.

He was given another luxury car — a Mercedes Benz E300 (ACR 2230) — valued at US$119 465,27 in 2012 — three years after he got the Landcruiser. It later turned out that Mr Chikwenhere was the only executive who was given luxury cars after three years while others got their allocations after five years.

Zesa also splashed US$116 861,80 on a Toyota Prado (ABL0185) for Zesa corporate accounting manager, a Mr J Mapillar, way above his contractual limit of US$110 000.

Similarly, Zent managers could not resist pillaging the power company as it pampered 17 of its managers with iPads worth US$20 000.

The subsidiary also did not heed the parastatal’s procurement regulations (Section 2.1 of the Zesa Holdings Procurement Policy, Norms and Procedures Manual), which stipulate that purchase of goods above US$10 000 should go to tender.

PwC also queried circumstances surrounding the award of a 100MW solar power plant development project to Intratreck Zimbabwe, which is fronted by flashy ex-convict, Mr Wicknell Chivayo, even after the company came second to China Jiangxi during the adjudication process.

Apparently, Intratreck’s quoted project cost of US$248 million was US$65 million more than the Chinese firm’s fee. But Intratreck later approached ZPC and requested to be considered for the project at a revised cost. The request was suspiciously acceded to.

The terms of the original tender were subsequently altered, which attracted a US$900 penalty for ZPC from the then State Procurement Board (SPB) for the variation. ZPC curiously decided to pay US$5 million to Intratreck for feasibility and other pre-commencement works.

PwC also discovered that while feasibility studies usually stretch for about six months or more, Intratreck completed its own exercise within one month.

To date, no meaningful development has taken place at the project site. Minister Fortune Chasi said Government would move heaven and earth to recover the funds that were salted away by dodgy companies, criminally incompetent managers and cunning tenderpreneurs.

“It shows you that all the boards that existed during the time when all these things were happening were not appropriate boards in that there were no systems that could pick such misdeeds by the stuff,” said Minister Chasi.

The onus was on the new board, added Minister Chasi, to implement the recommendations of the audit report, “part of which is to ensure that everyone who is liable for any wrongdoing is actually brought to book and that the quantifiable damage or loss they caused the entity and the people of Zimbabwe is recovered from them.”

He added: “The report is evidence of serious lack of good corporate governance at Zesa and the important need of the parent ministry to take an active interest in what will be happening and following up on issues.”

Former Zesa bosses, including the ex-group CEO Eng Chifamba, ZETDC managing director Engineer Julian Chinembiri and his finance director Thokozani Dhliwayo are already facing criminal abuse of office charges.

The jaw-dropping revelations come at a time when the power utility introduced a punishing load-shedding schedule which has seen residents and business enduring long hours without electricity. –

State Media|Former MDC legislator, Eddie Cross has come out in full support of the Government’s austerity measures saying if the economy is to heal, it has to undergo painful processes.

In an interview on the sidelines of the commissioning of ZimCoke Private Limited in Redcliff recently, Cross said he was in total support of Finance and Economic Development Minister Prof Mthuli Ncube’s austerity measures saying the economy was about to reach the turnaround point.

“I am in support of the Minister’s austerity measures and also the fact that he is talking about a new currency by August or September. We have to have a currency for basic trading purposes. How do people trade, we ought to have a currency. The Minister wants to do it in August, September, I personally support that thinking,” said Cross.

He lamented unnecessary speculation saying it was a major cause of unjustified price increases.

He, however, said the economy had reached a point where it was making a positive turn, adding there was need to stop the unwarranted speculation by fixing the exchange rates.

“The economy is about to turnaround. We need to stop the speculation that’s going on, there is no justification for the current exchange rates, not at all. Rates should be around, 2,5 to 3, but how do you justify the current exchange rate,” he said.

He said Government has to go back to basics and employ the fundamental economics a move which will propel the economy turnaround strategy.

“We need to fix the fiscal deficit, people do not have spending power, imports are down 20 percent, I think we are well in into the austerity which Mthuli talked about. What we got to do now, urgently, is to get stability in the forex exchange rate market and that way, inflation will drop, prices will also come down,” said Mr Cross.

Recently, Prof Ncube assured the nation that the period of austerity will be short and certainly not exceed one year as the positive fruits of belt tightening were already being realised.

Prof Ncube pleaded with businesses to be patient and desist from wanton price increases and profiteering as Government puts in place the building blocks.

Prof Ncube said key pillars towards the desired transformation included among others infrastructure development, strengthened governance, improved democratic space, improved social services, strengthening of public institutions, improved ease of doing business climate and fighting corruption.

He said what was encouraging was that Government had so far made great progress towards achieving these goals.

Prof Ncube said the Transitional Stabilisation Programme (TSP) was a short term blue-print that has a mandate to stabilise economic fundamentals before its long term successor policy guidelines take shape.

State Media|CHINESE consortium seeking to invest in Tsholotsho has reportedly been barred from doing so, with allegations that some councillors have been demanding bribes from them to be allocated land to erect a sawmill in the district.

The Chinese, according to sources, were told to pay a bribe of between US$25 000 and US$27 000 if they wanted to setup in the Matabeleland North district.

“We were happy to learn that there was an investment coming to Tsholotsho. Ultimately this spelt development and job creation. However, after sometime we were aggrieved to learn that the development had failed to materialise, as some councillors had demanded bribes from the Chinese. The Chinese on hearing this left for Lupane where we are told they would be setting up,” said a source who requested anonymity.

Sunday News sought a comment from the said Chinese investors, who refused to talk about the issue.

“I am sorry. I don’t know what you are talking about. I would rather not talk about that,” said one of the Chinese nationals before hanging up.

Tsholotsho Rural District chairperson Councillor Esau Siwela, however, said there was no such issue, pointing out that the RDC had met the Chinese and a set of rules and procedures had been drawn and made known to them.

“It’s all just a rumour. Indeed there are Chinese people who are seeking to invest in the district. They applied to set up a sawmill and as council, we informed them on what was needed to be done. This was all done in black and white. It is a pity that they were impatient and decided to leave before undertaking most of the procedures. We informed them that a sawmill had high levels of pollution and it was prudent for them to set up in an area that was not close to residential areas. We took them to a place in Ward 13, where we had proposed and allocated them a 40 000 square metre area. In doing all this we called all departments and interested stakeholders to interview them on the proposed investment.

“They agreed to the proposal and were asked to pay a full year’s lease. They would be paying US20c per square metre, which would add up to US$8 000 a year. They were then advised to get a prospectus from the Environmental Management Agency (EMA), which cost $200. From there they disappeared. Then we heard they popped up in Lupane. I then got in touch with my fellow colleagues in Lupane who informed me that they were prospecting and buying timber. But they were not really certain what they were doing there.”

Meanwhile, the RDC has resolved to suspend its executive officer-in-charge of Natural Resources— Mr Simelisizwe Sibanda, who is under investigation for alleged criminal abuse of office charges. RDC chairperson, Councillor Siwela, confirmed that the council had resolved to suspend Mr Sibanda during a meeting that was held last Thursday. He said a letter had been written to the chief executive officer on the matter and he would in his capacity serve Mr Sibanda with the letter of suspension when he returns from leave.

“He will therefore be called to a disciplinary hearing, after he is served with the letter,” said Clr Siwela.

Own Correspondent|President Emmerson Mnangagwa refused to attend the memorial service let alone the high profile burial of the late liberation war stalwart Dumiso Dabengwa on claims that the family had requested a private burial by merely declining a Heroes Acre burial.

Shockingly, his state apparatus however failed to give the family a similar respect for a private burial as they continued to try and manipulate the programme and events at the service and burial.

Perhaps the biggest task that the state security team was given by Mnangagwa’s office was to completely shut out opposition leader Nelson Chamisa from being recognised and even being offered an opportunity to address the huge gatherings at the two events.

It is no secret that the adored young MDC leader had struck a cosy relationship with late Dabengwa who publicly endorsed Chamisa as the next President of the country. Dabengwa had to go all out and step down from contesting the 2018 elections inviting his party members to back Chamisa in the presidential race.

Besides the public knowledge of Chamisa and Dabengwa’s affection, the government Joint Operations Command that claimed to have taken over the mourning and burial programmes just would not have anything to do with Chamisa.

On Friday, at the memorial service held at White City Stadium, Chamisa was denied VIP treatment and not even accorded a seat in the tightly controlled VIP tent. He had to find space in the public gallery tent that housed some distant Dabengwa relatives and some few lowly ranked ZAPU officials.

It had to take a very dramatic moment on Saturday for Chamisa to be allowed to address the gathering at the burial and get an opportunity to mourn with the Dabengwa family that had for long embraced him as their child through the late Dr Dumiso Dabengwa.

The dramatic moment came after Dabengwa’s widow, Zodwa Dabengwa (known affectionately as MaKhumalo) stood her ground and insisted that the young opposition leader should be allowed to speak.

“Yekelani umtanami akhulume, (allow my son to speak),” gogo MaKhumalo was overhead by sources close by while she was instructing members of the president’s office who were fighting to manipulate the programme.

Chamisa was not on the list of scheduled speakers and had already personally accepted the order and settled to see the programme through. However, at MaKhumalo’s insistence, Chamisa gave an impromptu speech in which he emotionally extolled the virtues of Dr Dabengwa and promised to honour all the ideals he had stood for.

Chamisa finished his speech by firing a salvo at President Emmerson Mnangagwa and his deputies for failing to grace the occasion despite the fact that South African President Cyril Ramaphosa saw it fit to send emissaries.

“Is it not a sad indictment that we have (South African) President Cyril Ramaphosa sending his emissaries, yet in this country we have our own vice President and even President who is not available to mourn with us?”, Chamisa said.

Own Correspondent|South African President Cyril Ramaphosa has sent a special condolence message on the death of opposition ZAPU leader Dr Dumiso Dabengwa describing him as a hero of the world and a true revolutionary.

The ANC delegation that was standing in for Ramaphosa at the burial of Dabengwa at his Manxeleni home in Ntabazinduna and led by Minister of State Security Ayanda Dlodlo described Dr Dabengwa as a true child of Africa, a son of the soil and commander.

“We are here to bury a son of the soil, the commander of Southern Africa revolutionary struggle, a child of Africa, the defender of the rights of those that are down trodden, the defender of the revolution of the people of South Africa and a child of the world,” said President Ramaphosa in a speech read on his behalf by Minister Dlodlo.

President Ramaphosa said Dr Dabengwa was a hero not only of the Zimbabwean people and the liberation struggle but was a hero of South Africa too.

“He is a hero of the world, his name will relive through the skies of Africa it will run and flow through the rivers of our respective countries – Limpopo River, it will shine like the sun that always rises in the east and set in the west,” said President Ramaphosa.

The South African President described Dr Dabengwa as, “a hero that none of us should have the luxury to forget”.

He paid special tribute to the family for having involved the people of South Africa and Zimbabwe as they prepared to lay a hero to rest.

“Special emphasis goes to those that fought with him in the battles in Sipolilo and this is the battle that crafted the history and umbilical cord between the people of Zimbabwe and the people of South Africa and for that we pay special tribute.

“We are nations that speak the same language, our cultures are the same let us remember and solidify the relationship between the two countries and between the two peoples that were fought for by Dr Dabengwa. That is history that should never be undermined, a history that should never be edited; his name must remain in the history books of both countries,” he said.

Lieutenant-General Gilbert Ramano a veteran of the South African liberation struggle also sung praises for Dr Dabengwa.

“I had the opportunity of serving under the command and leadership of Cde Dabengwa, he was a commander who was special, and he was a political military commander. He understood the struggle of the people of Zimbabwe and South Africa. It was an opportunity for me to be under a man of this calibre.

“He knew the whole front line all the way to Beira. And as a foot soldier myself, I can say he was involved in all aspects. He was brave and fearless but very kind and humble,” he said.

Shelly Brown who spoke on behalf of Umkhonto WeSizwe Military Veterans’ Association (MKMVA) said they were honoured to be in Zimbabwe for the burial of their fellow soldier.

“Cde Dabengwa shared the trenches with most of the veterans in the liberation struggle. It was therefore with a deep sense of loss and sadness that (MKMVA) received the devastating news of Cde Dabengwa’s death. We honour and recognise him as one of the greatest sons of Zimbabwe both in the position as the President of Zapu and as a former Zipra chief of intelligence,” she said.

“It was in the latter capacity that blood ties of revolutionary solidarity were formed between Cde Dabengwa and MKMVA.

“As committed as he was to the liberation of Zimbabwe he was similarly committed to secure the liberation of the people of South Africa.

“He was a true Pan-Africanist. Cde Dabengwa was never an armchair revolutionary, he lived out his unwavering commitment on the battle front.

“He lead from the front and was prepared to face the enemy and faced danger and potential death with his fellow soldiers. Cde Dabengwa never created parallel structures, even severe provocation never allowed political wounds inflicted on him as an individual to influence his understanding of the revolution and his commitment to unity,” she said.

Dr Dabengwa died on Thursday last week in Nairobi Kenya on his way back to Zimbabwe from India where he had gone to get treatment on a long kidney ailment.

Source: State Media

“Everywhere I went today there were not more than 10 cars”

— Fortune Chasi (@fortunechasi) June 1, 2019

That’s not me talking. That’s why it’s in quotes .

— Fortune Chasi (@fortunechasi) June 1, 2019

The Champions League final, second leg tie between Esperance of Tunisia and Morroco’s Wydad Casablanca was suspended for over an hour in the Stade Olympique de Rades before the match was awarded to the Tunisian side.

Esperance retained the title in a dramatic fashion after Wydad refused to return to the field in protest of VAR not being implemented on Walid El Karti’s 58th-minute equaliser that was ruled out.

Gambian referee Bakari Gassama chose not to use video assistance to review the goal, which led to the visitors walking off the pitch and refusing to return.

Following an hour stoppage, Gassama awarded the victory to the home team who were leading by 1-0 at the time the play was stopped, courtesy of Youcef Belaili’s first-half effort.

They won the tie 2-1 on aggregate after the first leg of the final ended 1-1.

According to BeIN Sport Gassama didn’t consult VAR because the system was not working due to “technical problems”.

Meanwhile, the first leg of the final played in Morroco was also riddled with controversy which resulted in referee Gehad Grisha being suspended for six months by CAF.

Matabeleland North Minister of State Richard Moyo got a rude awakening on Saturday when he was booed by some mourners at the burial of the late ZPRA Intelligence Supremo Dumiso Dabengwa in Ntabazinduna.

Minister Moyo was speaking on behalf of President Emmerson Mnangagwa who did not attend the burial because it was a private family ceremony.

When Moyo stood up to go to the podium after being invited by the Master of Ceremony some mourners started singing the Ndebele protest song: Into oyenzayo siyayizonda.

Richard Moyo became unpopular with some section on Nabazinduna and Matabeleland people when he criticised Chief Nhlanhlayamangwe Ndiweni for leading a spirited effort to bar government from taking over a farm in his area.

The booing started again when Moyo was recognising some VIPs who were present including Chief Fortune Charumbira.

Earlier during the event the Dabengwa family through their spokesperson showed their displeasure at the government’s plan to take over the funeral through implementing their own program and disregarding the one that the family had proposed.

The family spokesperson, Gibson Sibanda took over as MC and insisted that the family will conduct their own program before handing handing over to the government.

Speakers during the event included South Africa’s Minister of State Security Ayanda Dlodlo, Shirley Brown from Umkhonto weSizwe veterans.

The Commander of the Zimbabwe Defence Forces General Philip Valerio Sibanda was in attendance.

MDC leader Nelson Chamisa and Chief Ndiweni have lashed out at President Emmerson Mnangagwa and his deputies for failing to attend the Burial of struggle veteran Dumiso Dabengwa who was buried at Ntabazinduna about 40 kilometres outside Bulawayo.

Speaking after the conclusion of the state programme of Dabengwa’s burial, both Chamisa and Chief Ndiweni said they were saddened by Mnagagwa’s absence from the event.

“I’m sad that those who rule us did not want to honour the man we are burying here with their presence.This speaks to the fact that things are not well in our country,” said Chief Ndiweni.

He also lamented the economic collapse in the  and the state of democracy which he saidis in serious trouble. 

” The state of democracy in Zimbabwe is in serious trouble, there are many issues that we need to resolve,” said Chief Ndiweni.

He the Zimbabwe people are living in is not the one veterans like Dabengwa fought for.

“Something has gone wrong and all of us need to speak up, need to have a voice to that conversation which can put our country straight,” he said.

Chamisa on tbe other hand said the Burial of Dabengwa was not a partisan event but was meant to honour his contribution to the liberation of Zimbabwe.

Independent|persistent price volatility in the economy has left producers and retailers in Zimbabwe with very limited options apart from indexing their products in the US dollar or pegging their Real-Time Gross Settlement (RTGS) prices using the black market rates of the day.

To some extent, this was inevitable after the economy rolled back to the hyperinflation era at the beginning of the year, with the January 2019 inflation rate above the 50% mark.

Although the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) inflation statistics are far from accurate in measuring the events in the market where the inflation rate is above 100%, they still paint a picture of the high volatility in the economy.

The local currency (RTGS dollar) has lost more than 98% of its value since introduction on February 20 2019 with the official inter-bank exchange rate at 4,95 to the US dollar. Prices for goods and services are however informed by the parallel market rates where US$1 fetches about $7,30 RTGS.

De facto dollarisation, also known as unofficial dollarisation, arises when individuals lose confidence in a domestic currency and hold foreign currency bank deposits or notes to protect against high inflation in that domestic currency as is the case in Zimbabwe at present.

De facto dollarisation includes the spontaneous adoption of the dollar by producers and retailers as a means to trade or store value without government legislation or recognition. In March 2019, Zimbabwe gazetted two legal instruments: the Exchange Control Regulations (Amendment) of 2019 (Statutory Instrument 32) and the Presidential Powers (Temporary Measures) for (Amendment) of the RBZ Act and RTGS Electronic Dollars Regulations of 2019 (Statutory Instrument 33).

The statutory instruments mean that the RTGS dollar (inclusive of bond notes and coins) shall be the legal tender in Zimbabwe although the law does not prohibit the use of multi-currencies adopted in 2009 for the pricing of goods and services, recording debts, accounting and settlement of transactions locally. Local producers and retailers have predictably used this window to price their products in the US dollar rather than continue with the exchange rate madness, which calls for price adjustments whenever the RTGS weakens against the dollar.

History has revealed that in most countries where official dollarisation happens, the government or its central bank gives in to popular market demands to adopt the dollar as legal tender.

It has also been evident that countries that fully dollarised have struggled to shake off the US dollar in the absence of fundamental changes to the economy, especially in building confidence in government institutions and growing domestic production. An immediate and noticeable effect of dollarisation is on price and economic stability as evidenced in 2009 when Zimbabwe adopted the US dollar as legal tender. The country actually experienced deflation as year-on-year inflation reached a record low of -7,5% in December 2009.

The economy experienced deflation for a prolonged period from 2014 to 2017 and this brought joy to local consumers. Dollarisation enabled businesses and investors to plan better and replenish stocks at reasonable profit margins.

It is fair to say that the use of the US dollar in Zimbabwe in the short term alleviates the greatest pains of hyperinflation.

However, it is not the ultimate solution to economic growth in the medium to long term. The government has to manage the negative impact of dollarisation, especially the prevailing de facto dollarisation which creates artificial shortages of the coveted US dollar on the inter-bank market. The most immediate challenge is on tackling pricing distortions in a liberalised market where similar products are priced in different currencies using different exchange rates to the US dollar as is the case in the pharmaceutical sector.

The Competition and Tariff Commission of Zimbabwe, which is the pricing watchdog of the government, has to establish pricing standards in critical sectors of the economy so as to manage the cost of doing business locally. Oligopolistic tendencies, where producers collude to set high prices or profiteer on limited units, have to be kept in check.

Without managing this key element, products produced locally will gradually fall off the shelves, with cheaper imports replacing them. Lack of enforceable pricing standards in the local economy means that foreign companies or businesspeople selling their products in Zimbabwe profit from higher prices charged locally while evading formal banking channels.

Proceeds from such trading often find their way to foreign banks through foreign currency externalisation. Externalisation is actually rampant where regulations enforce trading in a weaker RTGS dollar when imports are indexed in the US dollar or rand.

Product dumping of cheap merchandise from the Far East is likely to increase. In order to protect the local industry, the government needs to review upwards tariffs levied on industrial merchandise (finished goods) imports and tighten border controls among other measures. A complete trade liberalisation will take Zimbabwe back to the 2011-2013 era when the trade deficit averaged US$4,5 billion yearly.

Zimbabwe is not in short supply of foreign currency as the country exported goods worth more than US$4,23 billion in 2018 on top of remittances of over US$1 billion. Local foreign currency accounts boast of more than US$800 million while the inter-bank market has only traded less than US$100 million with most of the funds being released by the central bank.

The clear conclusion is that consumers and businesses do not have confidence in the local currency and various interventions by the government. Using the US dollar is motivated by the need to survive for most businesses which suffered massive exchange rate losses from October 2018 to date.

De facto dollarisation is helping local producers to get fair value for their products, keeping them in business. Local producers learnt well from their painful experiences in 2008 and have remained alert to the black market exchange rate. It can only be rational given the prevailing economic uncertainty in Zimbabwe.

Victor Bhoroma is a business and economic analyst. He is a marketer by profession and holds an MBA from the University of Zimbabwe (UZ).

Below is a picture of the former president Robert Mugabe in Adidas sportwear.

The dateless picture went viral on Saturday afternoon.

Mugabe was removed in a military coup in November 2017 and in recent days he has been spending his time at home or in the far east where he regularly visits for medical care.

By Farai D Hove| Chief Felix Ndiweni has said that someone in the country vision so that the Almighty God will soon deny someone vision to stop them going where they thought they were going.

Chief Ndiweni was speaking at the holy Ntabazinduna mountain during the burial of the late ZANU President Dumiso Dabengwa.

Said Ndiweni, “On many occasions the Lord God Almighty will deny someone knowledge.

“The Lord God Almighty will deny someone vision. The Lord God Almighty will deny someone hearing, to stop them going where they thought they were going.

“In Zimbabwe, why would ubaba Dabengwa come from Ntabazinduna? He could have come from Lupane, Tsholotsho, many other places. He comes from Ntabazinduna, he is ours.”

Below is the speech (part transcript) by Chief Felix Ndiweni at the burial of the late national hero, Dumiso Dabengwa:

Thank you very much. Than you very much great people.

We have a very important job to accomplish today. Thinking of our past, our history. I am asking those standing to sit down, to respect. Today we are going to be very firm.

You are not here by mistake…in Ntabazinduna by mistake. On many occasions the Lord God Almighty will deny someone knowledge. The Lord God Almighty will deny someone vision. The Lord God Almighty will deny someone hearing, to stop them going where they thought they were going. In Zimbabwe, why would ubaba Dabengwa come from Ntabazinduna? He could have come from Lupane, Tsholotsho, many other places. He comes from Ntabazinduna, he is ours.

CLAP CLAP.

I speak of Ntabazinduna because right behind me there, you will see the mountain, Ntabazinduna, the mountain that formed this nation in this part of the country. It is not just a mountain. Land is just not land, Land is spiritual, mountain is spiritual. Moses and the burning bush on the mount Sinai, on the mountain, as with us, as with us.

Moses with the 10 Commandments on the mountain, as with us, as with us. Where-ever you look in the scriptures, the Messiah in the garden just before Iscariot betrayed him, on the mountain top, as with us, as with us.

So I am trying to pass over to you that it is not just a mountain. And even if you go to Psalm 37 you will find an amazement, land is not free, land has a condition. The Lord God Almighty says if you are righteous in my sight, I will give you the land and also your descendants …that land. if you are wicked I will take that land from you….

All these people have come to give honour to this great hero, and they have come to observe how we have laid this great hero to rest. If we have buried him the wrong way, they will have to say it. This is very touchy and says a lot about our country.

By Talent Gondo- South Africa Deputy President David Mabuza’s wife Nonhlanhla Mnisi has caused a stir on social media after she wore a dress that became almost transparent when the light hit it at a certain angle.

By Own Correspondent- Pro-democracy and human rights campaigners who are facing allegations of plotting to overthrow President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s government will have to endure another week at the Chikurubi Maximum Security Prison.

The five activists, George Makoni aged 38 years, Tatenda Mombeyarara aged 37 years, Gamuchirai Mukura aged 31 years, Nyasha Mpahlo aged 35 years and Farirai Gumbonzvanda aged 26 years, have been in custody since May 20, 2019.

According to the ZRP, Makoni, an Advocacy Officer with Centre for Community Development in Zimbabwe, Mombeyerara of International Socialist Organisation, Mukura of Community Tolerance Reconciliation and Development, Mpahlo of Green Governance Zimbabwe and Gumbonzvanda, a volunteer at Rosaria Memorial Trust, allegedly connived with their accomplices, who are still at large and travelled to Maldives on 13 May 2019, where they attended a training workshop organised by Centre for Applied Non Violent Action and Strategies (CANVAS), a Serbian non-governmental organisation, with the intention of subverting a constitutionally elected government.

Two more activists, Rita Nyampinga and Stabile Dewa, have been arrested on the same charges and have also applied for bail at the High Court. Their bail application is yet to be heard.

By Own Correspondent- The ZIMBABWE International Book Fair Association (ZIBFA) has postponed this year’s edition of the Bulawayo Book Fair event that was initially scheduled for today and tomorrow at Large City Hall.

The book extravaganza will now be held on June 3 and 4 at the same venue.

The ZIBFA interim chair, executive board member Memory Chirere, said; “The Bulawayo Book Fair event will now be hosted in conjunction with the City of Bulawayo as they celebrate their 125th anniversary.”

Chirere said the book fair, to be held under the theme Footprints Of The Book: Milestones and Opportunities will comprise of activities that will include exhibitions, children’s reading tent, live literature centre and a spelling bee/quiz competition.

“We would like to extend our invitation to headmasters, teachers, parents, schoolchildren, writers, editors, printers, publishers, booksellers and librarians in the Matabeleland and Midlands regions to visit this unique Bulawayo Book Fair exhibition,” he said.

“We also wish to extend a warm welcome to members of the general public to visit the Bulawayo Book Fair to discover the opportunities that lie in books for further learning and knowledge acquisition.”

Chirere said the book fair would provide all stakeholders the opportunity to sample books for educational advancement, professional development and individual intellectual growth.

“The Bulawayo Book Fair workshop will be focusing on Footprints of the Book: Milestones and Opportunities. The workshop will provide an opportune platform to discuss issues that are beneficial to the book sector and exploit synergies that help to grow the industry,” he said.-Newsday

Over 200 pupils from Tantseka Village in Mthatha, South Africa have to relieve themselves in the open after a contractor allegedly locked their school toilets last month.

The contractor locked the toilets over outstanding payments from an agent the education department hired.

“Younger pupils sometimes relieve themselves in the schoolyard. “We have no control because it’s between the department and the contractor,” Maxwebisa said the contractor warned them at the beginning of the year that he would close the toilets.

“We reported it to the department. He comes to the school to check if the toilets are still locked, but the department never sets foot here.” Teacher Weziwe Nogemane-Zozo said: “We have to wait for those who have gone to relieve themselves. Teaching has been disturbed as a result.”

Contractor Jerry Sifanele of Siyaphambili Trading said although he couldn’t say exactly how much he was owed, he would only unlock the toilets when he was paid. Gwegwe, Xhwili and Julukuqu primary schools have also been affected. Sifanele said: “It’s been two years since I signed the completion certificate and have been waiting for my money”.

Education spokesman Malibongwe Mtima said the contractor was paid what was due to him. “He has a contractual duty not to disturb the use of sanitation facilities. The department awaits legal action by implementing agent Mvula Trust, the contractor’s employer.”

Trust spokesman Mohale Mashao said the contractor has been paid for work done. Mashao said they gave him another chance to check the final accounts and if he felt they were incorrect, to refer it for independent arbitration.

“The only outstanding issue relates to the final accounts which were approved by public works in September 2018. The contractor refused to accept them and has been referred to the contract.” He said they’d start legal proceedings if pupils were still denied their rights.

By Own Correspondent- Police in Mutare arrested a five-man gang suspected of illegal fuel dealings.

The five were arrested in the Nyamakate industrial area after being caught red-handed, draining fuel from a tanker.

This was revealed to the state media by national police spokesperson Assistant Commissioner Paul Nyathi. He said:

The Zimbabwe Republic Police confirms the arrest of five accused persons in Mutare for unlawful dealing in fuel which occurred in Mutare on May 26, at around 2100 hours.

The five accused persons were arrested in Nyamakate area, Mutare, were they siphoned a total of 10 x 25, litres diesel from a tanker.

Police investigations revealed that one of the accused persons was the driver of the tanker. The ZRP has intensified its surveillance on illegal dealers and will not hesitate to arrest anyone found engaging in unscrupulous activities.

Meanwhile, the Minister of Energy and Power Development, Fortune Chasi, said that the government will clamp down on those involved in selling fuel on the black market, causing artificial shortages on the formal market.-StateMedia