DENDERA crooner Suluman “Sulu” Chimbetu has fired a salvo at the late well known traditional healer, Charles Makhuyana Ndunge’s followers.

Sulu has penned a song that apparently is sending shivers down the spines of the deceased clients. Sekuru Ndunge as he was fondly referred to by his family and customers succumbed to diabetes and was laid to rest at his homestead in Chipinge. He was 87.

The revered traditionalist gained popularity after serving tens of thousands of people of different races and background from across the globe. His trade spanned close to seven decades.
Among the people assisted by Sekuru Ndunge were musicians, politicians, businesspeople, dealers, clergymen and fellow traditional healers. But clients of the late traditional healer are currently jostling to repay outstanding debts, return lucky charms and all sorts of gear they received.

This follows reports that a member of an apostolic sect from the region said the late sangoma approached their church a month before passing on. Sekuru Ndunge, according to the apostolic man, was “seeking assistance and demanding that all those who still have his paraphernalia surrender them”.

Enter Sulu. He is not making it any easy for those caught in the aforementioned predicament. His latest composition urges beneficiaries of the traditional healer’s “wizardry” to “return lucky charms”.
Apparently there is high belief that some successful musicians in the local music industry use juju. And that some of them (names withheld) benefited from Sekuru Ndunge’s charms.

A verse from Sulu’s song goes: “Akatora chinhu kwaNdunge ngadzosere, chingave chaunga chero chikwambo enda unosiya ikoko, ndunge akaenda dzorera, chero tsono dzorera, zvinozokunetsa mangwana, ndunge akafa, zvakatopera.” (Who ever took anything from Ndunge should return, the man is no more and it will give you problems.)State media

Farai Dziva|Emmerson Mnangagwa says he does not have a score to settle against the former First Family because of the humiliation he was subjected to- by Grace Mugabe.

With regards to his humiliation by the First Lady prior to Operation Restore Legacy, Mnangagwa said the events are behind him.

He said at that time he remained unfazed in the face of the public attacks because he knew that the allegations levelled against him were false.

“Meanwhile there is the new Republic, we are seized with the challenges of the country and we are moving forward. What is behind us is behind us.
““To some extent I enjoyed the lies, here was the person attacking you on issues that are false and you cannot get angry when you know that if you can be given a chance to speak, you can destroy every single allegation that is being made, so you can’t get angry because the premises of attack were all false and crafted by individuals who wanted to cause me to be removed.
“ Perhaps I was standing in the way of some ambitious colleagues in the system. So I actually enjoyed the lies. This is why they probably didn’t give me the opportunity to respond in public because they knew they were lying.

President Emmerson Mnangagwa says he has no ill feelings towards former President Mr Robert Mugabe and has opened regular communication channels with his predecessor to ensure that his welfare is well taken care of.

The President also revealed that Mr Mugabe (95) is currently receiving treatment in Singapore and Government will continue to look after him.
In a special Independence Day interview with the Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation (ZBC) yesterday, President Mnangagwa said he did not bear grudges with the former first family.

“There are no hard feelings between me and the former President as well as the former First Family. The former President is the founding father of Zimbabwe,” he said.

“He was our leader, the revolutionary leader during the armed struggle and led to the creation of Independence in Zimbabwe.

“With that regard, I think history should put his name in its proper place.
“We in the Second Republic, recognise that he was our former commander and that cannot be taken away from him.”
President Mnangagwa said he regularly checks on Mr Mugabe adding that the former President was currently receiving treatment in Singapore.

“We have established a communication method… We can talk on telephone between me and him on a regular basis.
“He has not been feeling well. At the age of 95, I think he is reasonably in good health. Currently he is not in the country. He left on the 2nd of April to Singapore, he will be way for about 29 days and he will come back.

“I am making sure that I do the facilitation for him to receive treatment, take him to Singapore and to bring him back, all the facilities, I make sure that it is done.”
With regards to his humiliation by the First Lady prior to Operation Restore Legacy, President Mnangagwa said the events are behind him.

He said at that time he remained unfazed in the face of the public attacks because he knew that the allegations levelled against him were false.State media

VIDEO LOADING BELOW…

The Emmerson Mnangagwa led government has announced it has begun compensating victims of the 1 August 2018 elections military violence, except MDC President Nelson Chamisa of whom the military decided to kill civilians in order to change 2018 election results – the brutal deployment filmed on the state broadcaster, ZBC in Mnangagwa’s presence.

All the events leading to the military
violence on the 1st of August 2018 were broadcast on LIVE ZBC camera; it was clearly announced by Mnangagwa’s most senior office worker, his special advisor that the military would-be used to change election results so that they match an outcome that is greater than the one ZANU PF won the elections in 1980. (See video).

The government announcement conspicuously avoids Nelson Chamisa the key victim of the massacre.

The state announcement in their media broadsheet carried the following title: “Compensation for August 1 victims commences,” at a time when none of this was taking place.

The report however promised that those  who will receive compensation include direct dependents of those killed and the injured whose medical expenses will be covered. This is based on the Motlanthe commission report.

Since the 15th December 2017, soldiers had clear standing military orders to use their military firepower to create and sustain a Presidency for Mnangagwa using LIVE ammunition. There is a
LIVE broadcast video of Mnangagwa’s most senior office worker speaking in Mnangagwa’s presence, (special advisor), Christopher Mutsvangwa, announcing at the ZANU PF national conference the intention to commit acts of military level terror. (LIVE video 15 Dec 2017.) In this video, a threat was sounded to the public that the Zimbabwe Defense Forces would the following year, use their military powers to “mobilize” to ensure Emmerson Mnangagwa returns to state house after the elections with a margin greater than the 1980 poll outcome, which saw
ZANU-PF “win” by a landslide “Comrade President, we are pledging to you our support for the 2018 election. That election, you shall win on a magnitude bigger than the one which we did in
1980, we are going to work hard with our chiefs. We are going to work hard with our illustrious ZDF (the Zimbabwe Defense Forces), the best army in the world, and we want to salute our
general Chiwenga who leads the most professional army in the world…” he said.
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2. VIDEO (STATE BROADCASTER – ZBC AUDIO):

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Timeline marker: 1:10:00 to 1:10:49

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Meanwhile the Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs permanent secretary Virginia Mabhiza told the Sunday Mail:

“we have dealt with the issue at the working party level, which I co-chair together with Foreign Affairs, and what we have done is that we have made recommendations to the Ministerial taskforce requesting a budget that should be provided through the Department of Social Welfare to compensate the victims of the August 1 post-election violence.

In terms of implementation, that will largely depend on the availability of funds, so the Department of Social Welfare, who we have brought on board the taskforce, will look into issue of facilitating the compensation.

The quantum of the compensation will have to be assessed by the Ministry of Finance, sitting together with the Department of Social Welfare – those are the people who are supposed to quantify and cause Cabinet to approve.”

VIDEO LOADING BELOW…

By Own Correspondent| In a major embarassing boob, an Australian journalist flew into Zimbabwe to film a money spinning documentary on baby parentage, all based on probative DNA suggestions.

The Australian journo, is well known for making money from creating fake drama and has been fired before following a “baby kidnap” scandal.

The latest development explains how and why there was a total media blackout against Zimbabwean journalists who for several months could broadcast Abigail Prangs’ own living room since 2018, but now at the point of meeting Abi’s “parents,” Australian journalists suddenly perform everything under the cover of darkness- They fly into Zimbabwe and even the national broadcaster, ZBC is not allowed near them. Why, and what is so secretive about a story publicly known in Harare since 1983? Why should foreigners be the ones to report on what they only read?

The man, Stephen Rice intended to make money out of the Abigail Prangs story, the Zimbabwean baby found dumped in 1983 documentary which StarFM and ZimEye have worked on since last year.

The development comes after Abigail had skipped vital stages of the DNA tests. She had even avoided the local Zimbabwean DNA centre fully equipped and which was still in the way to report back on their findings.

Global DNA’s Mr Tinashe Mugabe always insisted on further tests despite an initial sibling test (with an alleged sister, Lorraine Kamonere) yielding a passive 90,8% probability.

This was as Mr Mugabe said at this stage, the supposed parents, remained just alleged parents up until conclusive paternal and maternal tests had been conducted. As at the time when Stephen Rice and his filming crew were flying to Zimbabwe, there were none of these tests, the only one done being a mere half-sibling one.

There was a disturbing twist when Abigail rushed to declare she was now interested in a commercial contract offered for a money spinning documentary by Mr Rice. She reported to ZimEye that she had signed a contract with the disgraced Australian TV producer, Stephen Rice. Abigail even got to the point of ordering that all news articles produced since 1983 be deleted from thr public domain and a new story would be published by the Australian TV producer.

The sudden rush to distort evidence was to the point of even ditching the services of the local DNA centre. Correspondence seen by ZimEye.com shows Mr Rice ordering that Mr Mugabe’s services be terminated and a different DNA centre be utilised. In a program on Tuesday, Abi was questioned by ZimEye why she had suddenly disconnected with the Global DNA. She reported back by briefly saying, “I have a lot of respect for Tinashe,” still without revealing any reasons why.

The flight from Australia to Zimbabwe came in the face of serious concerns raised by Mr. Mugabe in an earlier StarFM program when while with Tilda Moyo, he revealed that there was no excitement at all on the supposed parent’s faces when they heard news that Abi is their daughter.

Mr Mugabe said “there was no excitement” which would be expected in such a breakthrough situation. More drama however, emerged when the supposed father was found suspiciously and repeatedly skipping away everytime when the Global DNA staff members descended onto their home. For several months since December last year, Global DNA thrice visited the home in Chitungwiza seeking to complete the investigation.

Now, the 90,8% probability was to suggest that there was a likeliwood of the 2 tested individuals sharing a common parent. It was a half sibling test. However without further tests the sibling one would-be insufficient.

Scientists call the 90,8% as seen in the graph, mere “probative evidence.” It is probative, not conclusive evidence.

[SEE THE GRAPH ABOVE]

An elated Abi who reportedly booked into a local hotel soon after arriving in Zimbabwe was pictured in Unit M in Chitungwiza with her supposed relatives two days after her arrival before she disappeared to an unknown location.
She shunned local reporters as she preferred her Australian based journalists despite that the local media houses had publicised her plight ahead of Rice. There was a publicly declared contractual arrangement with Zim media, but she chose to go “for mone

On Friday morning Abigail posted a status update revealing she was sad and disappointed. A day before she had publicly wielded a picture with her supposed mother.

That picture with her so called mum has since been removed.

Sources close to her revealed that the latest DNA tests show that she is not at all Edna Kamonere ‘s daughter. Sources close to her revealed that the results came out with a 0% probability (for maternity.)

Efforts to get a direct comment from Abi were fruitless at the time of writing. A direct comment from Mr Mugabe was difficult to obtain at the time of printing.

Mr Rice was reached for a comment between Wednesday and Friday and he had not replied messages at the time of publishing. His Zimbabwe based freelancer, Mr Tomas Brickhill however confirmed the development to ZimEye promising that Rice would be informed. – MORE TO FOLLOW…

VIDEO LOADING BELOW…

By Own Correspondent| In a major embarassing boob, an Australian journalist flew into Zimbabwe to film a money spinning documentary on baby parentage, all based on probative DNA suggestions.

The Australian journo, is well known for making money from creating fake drama and has been fired before following a “baby kidnap” scandal.

The latest development explains how and why there was a total media blackout against Zimbabwean journalists who for several months could broadcast Abigail Prangs’ own living room since 2018, but now at the point of meeting Abi’s “parents,” Australian journalists suddenly perform everything under the cover of darkness- They fly into Zimbabwe and even the national broadcaster, ZBC is not allowed near them. Why, and what is so secretive about a story publicly known in Harare since 1983? Why should foreigners be the ones to report on what they only read?

The man, Stephen Rice intended to make money out of the Abigail Prangs story, the Zimbabwean baby found dumped in 1983 documentary which StarFM and ZimEye have worked on since last year.

The development comes after Abigail had skipped vital stages of the DNA tests. She had even avoided the local Zimbabwean DNA centre fully equipped and which was still in the way to report back on their findings.

Global DNA’s Mr Tinashe Mugabe always insisted on further tests despite an initial sibling test (with an alleged sister, Lorraine Kamonere) yielding a passive 90,8% probability.

This was as Mr Mugabe said at this stage, the supposed parents, remained just alleged parents up until conclusive paternal and maternal tests had been conducted. As at the time when Stephen Rice and his filming crew were flying to Zimbabwe, there were none of these tests, the only one done being a mere half-sibling one.

There was a disturbing twist when Abigail rushed to declare she was now interested in a commercial contract offered for a money spinning documentary by Mr Rice. She reported to ZimEye that she had signed a contract with the disgraced Australian TV producer, Stephen Rice. Abigail even got to the point of ordering that all news articles produced since 1983 be deleted from the public domain and a new story would be published by the Australian TV producer.

The sudden rush to distort evidence was to the point of even ditching the services of the local DNA centre. Correspondence seen by ZimEye.com shows Mr Rice ordering that Mr Mugabe’s services be terminated and a different DNA centre be utilised. In a program on Tuesday, Abi was questioned by ZimEye why she had suddenly disconnected with the Global DNA. She reported back by briefly saying, “I have a lot of respect for Tinashe,” still without revealing any reasons why.

The flight from Australia to Zimbabwe came in the face of serious concerns raised by Mr. Mugabe in an earlier StarFM program when while with Tilda Moyo, he revealed that there was no excitement at all on the supposed parent’s faces when they heard news that Abi is their daughter.

Mr Mugabe said “there was no excitement” which would be expected in such a breakthrough situation. More drama however, emerged when the supposed father was found suspiciously and repeatedly skipping away everytime when the Global DNA staff members descended onto their home. For several months since December last year, Global DNA thrice visited the home in Chitungwiza seeking to complete the investigation.

Now, the 90,8% probability was to suggest that there was a likeliwood of the 2 tested individuals sharing a common parent. It was a half sibling test. However without further tests the sibling one would-be insufficient.

Scientists call the 90,8% as seen in the graph, mere “probative evidence.” It is probative, not conclusive evidence.

[SEE THE GRAPH ABOVE]

An elated Abi who reportedly booked into a local hotel soon after arriving in Zimbabwe was pictured in Unit M in Chitungwiza with her supposed relatives two days after her arrival before she disappeared to an unknown location.
She shunned local reporters as she preferred her Australian based journalists despite that the local media houses had publicised her plight ahead of Rice. There was a publicly declared contractual arrangement with Zim media, but she chose to go “for money.”

On Friday morning Abigail posted a status update revealing she was sad and disappointed. A day before she had publicly wielded a picture with her supposed mother.

That picture with her so called mum has since been removed.

Sources close to her revealed that the latest DNA tests show that she is not at all Edna Kamonere ‘s daughter. Sources close to her revealed that the results came out with a 0% probability (for maternity.)

Efforts to get a direct comment from Abi were fruitless at the time of writing. A direct comment from Mr Mugabe was difficult to obtain at the time of printing.

Mr Rice was reached for a comment between Wednesday and Friday and he had not replied messages at the time of publishing. His Zimbabwe based freelancer, Mr Tomas Brickhill however confirmed the development to ZimEye promising that Rice would be informed. – MORE TO FOLLOW…

By Own Correspondent- A top Bulawayo lawyer Mlweliwenkululeko Ncube (38) has been arrested for rape.

The lawyer allegedly raped his ex-girlfriend who broke up with him 6 years ago.

There was drama when the police stormed Tredgold Courts in Bulawayo Saturday morning where he was attending a maintenance court session and cuffed him.

The 35-year-old victim who cannot be named for ethical reasons allegedly told police Ncube forced himself on her on April 2 in his office.

“He allegedly told her it had been a long time since he last had se_x with a woman and started touching her. She told him to stop but he grabbed her and had se_x with her without her consent,” said the source.

This afternoon, Ncube was still being held at Bulawayo Central Police Station.

In 2017 Ncube got in the spotlight after threatening to kill himself by writing suicide notes on Facebook.

He later said his account had been hacked.

By Own Correspondent- -Nurses and staff at Chitungwiza referral hospital today demonstrated at the hospital parking area accusing the institution’s principal nursing officer of nepotism.

The nurses, held placards and sang songs denouncing Miriam Mangeya, whom they alleged had turned the institution into her personal empire.

Zimbabwe Nurses Association chairperson Kingstone Mutinzwa, confirmed that the extraordinary measures which had been taken by the nurses were as a result of simmering frustrations to their unaddressed concerns.

”Nurses are no longer safe to air their views because of the relatives and friends planted by the principal nursing officer, who feed negative information to her,” said Mutinzwa.

Mtinzwa claimed that efforts to engage Mangeya where not fruitful as she threatened to fire them instead.

”VaMangeya vanobva vati panoti Chitungwiza ndopanoti ini chero ukaendepi ivondavanosara, This has led the nurses to say enough is enough and stage a demonstration for voices to be heard.”

The paper also heard that Mangeya’s maiden surname is Muchakazi and her ‘two surnames’ dominated the team that benefited from a funded cholera vaccination programme.

Some of the general hands are from her church. We urge the ministry to investigate, do head counting and carry job evaluation and assess how Mangeya is administering the health institution,” he said.

Mangeya is on record admitting that she had relatives employed by the hospital but said she never had a hand in selecting people who went for the Cholera vaccination programme.-StateMedia

A teleprompter is a device used to project a speaker’s script on to a transparent panel in front of a television camera lens in such a way that the text remains hidden from the camera.

By Own Correspondent| Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) chairperson Justice Priscilla Chigumba has revealed that the elections body only had a 2 percent margin of error given that there was no room for the manipulation of the elections outcome.

Justice Chigumba said this at a recently held 2018 elections review meeting by the elections body.

She said:

“The law prescribes that after vote counting in every polling station the presiding officer should give completed V11 forms to observers and agents of political parties. This increases transparency. In the 2018 results, ZEC had a 2% margin of error against the accepted 10%.”

TWO Harare men were hauled before the courts yesterday for allegedly murdering a man who asked for sex from their female accomplice during a beer drink.

Trymore White and Roy Kufahakurotyi appeared before magistrate Victoria Mashamba facing charges of fatally stabbing Thabiso Chatata at a night club in Kuwadzana.

Mashamba remanded them in custody and has advised them to apply for bail at the High Court.

Allegations are that on April 10, 2019 at about 0300 hours, both accused persons were in the company of two ladies named Hilda Fourth and Nyaradzo Resoro. Chatata reportedly approached Resoro soliciting for sexual favours.

The accused persons confronted him armed with a pool stick and assaulted the deceased twice before the doorman Tinashe Chabvuta intervened, the court heard. It is the State’s case that Chatata wrestled with Kufahakurotyi over the stick and during the commotion; White drew out a knife and charged towards the deceased.

White allegedly stabbed the Chatata three times at the back, thigh and left arm and he fell down before the accused persons fled.

Source – dailynews

By Own Correspondent- President Emmerson Mnangagwa has revealed that he is aware of some plots organized by the internal Zanu PF mafia group to discredit his leadership.

He said this while addressing the national youth indaba at the party’s headquarters in Harare recently.

Said Mnangagwa:

“I am quite aware of machinations of the enemy to destabilise the party by causing despondency and disunity among our rank and file,” he said.

Mnangagwa also stated that the mafia group was also responsible for what happened early this year in January where there were a lot of expulsions and vote of no confidence in the party, which he later reversed.

He also highlighted to the youth that its a new dispensation and they should concentrate on positive people who want to see the country growing. He advised them to be strong and very careful in any case the enemy might want to sow seeds of disunity among the youths.-Newsday

The MDC has completed six Provincial Congresses with structures electing Provincial leaders and nominating National leaders.

The Process involves all three wings of the party including the Women and Youth Assemblies.

Structures of the party are traveling from different corners of their Provinces to a single centre where elections are conducted.

The process has been smooth in North America, Matebeleland South, Matebeleland North, Midlands, Mashonaland West and Mashonaland East.

Today the same process will take place in respect of Mashonaland Central.

The commitment demonstrated by structures highlights the belief of Zimbabweans in democracy. In some provinces, depending on number of districts, the process has been long yet the delegates have displayed maturity and patience.

The MDC is in the process of strengthening the people’s alternative.

The National Congress shall be a festival of democracy and ideas where structures will debate policy and institutional reforms in an endeavour to oil the party machinery.

MDC 5th Congress: Defining a New Course for Zimbabwe!

Jacob Mafume
MDC National Spokesperson

By Own Correspondent| President Emmerson Mnangagwa has revealed that his relationship with Former President Rober Mugabe remains “cordial” adding that he communicates with the former Zimbabwean leader at least once a week.

Mnangagwa said this in an interview with the state media at State House on Saturday afternoon.

The full interview shall be broadcast on the eve of Independence Day which falls on April 18.

Meanwhile, ZBC News reports that Mugabe is in Singapore where he is receiving medical attention.

Permanent secretary in the Ministry of Information, Media and Broadcasting Services Ndavaningi Mangwana revealed on twitter:

“Former president Mugabe and I communicate at least once a week. He is the found father of this nation. He was our commander during the Liberation Struggle. Nothing will ever stand in the way of that…”

By Own Correspondent| Higher and Tertiary Education, Science and Technology Development minister Professor Amon Murwira has announced government’s plans to revise regulations governing tertiary institutions for enhanced performance and development.

Murwira was presenting proposals for the Amendment of the Manpower and Development Act at the Bulawayo Polytechnic College recently.

He said:

The Ministry requires that all tertiary education institution employees be transferred from being Public Service Commission employees to state granted employees so that they are just like State University employees.

This, he argued, is essential for the purposes of ensuring compliance with international best practices in relation to academic freedom and academic integrity for industrialisation, modernisation, and attainment of Vision 2030.

The professor indicated that the transformation was aimed at government attraction and retention of best skills to facilitate the industrialisation and mordenisation of Zimbabwe.

He claimed that the Act also needed amendments on the Zimdef part so that it incorporates principles of good governance.

He also stated that the alignment of the Manpower Planning and Development Act was fundamental for skills development.

By Own Correspondent| A prominent Bulawayo-based lawyer, Blessing Mabusiso Bhala has been served with divorce summons by his wife Senele Bhala (nee Dhlomo).

Senele is also demanding custody of their daughter, Culolethu Ludo Bhala and $300 in monthly maintenance. Part of the shortened summons read:

An order for custody of the minor child, Culolethu Ludo Bhala; a minor girl born on August 28, 2013, be awarded to the plaintiff, subject to the defendant’s rights of reasonable access upon prior consultation with the plaintiff if anything on alternative weekends and school holidays.

An order that the defendant pays maintenance of the aforesaid minor child in the sum of $300 every month until the minor child turns the age of 18 or becomes self-supporting, whichever shall occur first.

An order that each party retains his or her sole and absolute all the property in his/her possession at the time of issuing the summons.

Dhlomo is seeking an order for both parties to retain ownership of property under their possession.

However, the summons did not cite the reasons for the divorce.

By Own Correspondent| A man from Matobo has appeared before Bulawayo Regional Magistrate, Sibonginkosi Mnkandla on allegations of raping his own daughters.

The accused person was remanded in custody to April 26 for trial commencement.

It is alleged that the accused forcefully retrieved his two daughters aged 9 and 7 years from their mother’s place on the 31st of December.

He allegedly claimed that he had New Year presents for them.

The prosecutor, Concilia Ncube stated that the accused violated his two girls that same night.

Ncube said:

“On the same day, during the night the accused person took his children to his bedroom and instructed them to sleep on his bed.”

The accused is alleged to have raped his nine-year-old and rubbed his privates on the thighs of the seven-year-old minor as the children jumped off the bed. He further threatened to kill them with a knife if they ever reported the matter to anyone.

The victims ran away on the 1st of January to narrate their unpleasant story to their grandmother. 

The matter was reported leading to the arrest of the accused.

By Own Correspondent| According to the Treasury Quarterly Bulletin (2018 Fourth Quarter) released on Wednesday, government revenues have increased.

A state media report attributes the rise in revenue collected to fiscal stabilisation measures as espoused in the national economic blueprint, the Transitional Stabilisation Programme (TSP).

The report indicates that revenues rose by 43,4 percent to US$1,69 billion, surpassing the set target of US$1,18 billion. Reads the report in part:

Read the report:

“This fourth quarter performance also represents a phenomenal 60 percent increase from the collections of US$1,06 billion recorded during the same period in 2017.

Similarly, fourth quarter revenues surpassed third quarter revenues of US$1,3 billion by 31,3 percent, reflecting high inflation impact, as well as the introduction of the Intermediated Money Transfer Tax (IMTT) in November.

The report also suggests that taxes were major contributors to revenue collections.It also divulges that expenditure in the fourth quarter was higher than the projected. Employment costs, interest on debt and operations, and maintenance were cited as major contributors to the sad trajectory.”-StateMedia

By Own Correspondent| The recently sworn in Minister of State of the Harare Metropolitan Province, Oliver Chidawu has described land barons as criminals who should be dealt with.

Chidawu, who is a former Harare mayor said this in an interview with the State Media.

He said:

“Land barons is a colloquial term for people who have stolen money from needy people who wanted housing and shelter over their heads.

These are just criminals, the point is what are we going to do with the criminals who have been roaming around cheating people? It is the duty of the local authority to provide housing to the people, it is a national duty for Government.

In my time as Harare Mayor, we used to do that in places like Warren Park and Kuwadzana. We serviced the land and properly gave people land. Unfortunately, as things deteriorated, we have ended up with greedy people.

A land baron would be a person who owns land and service it for sale, but these you are calling land barons are criminals.”

Jane Mlambo| The race for MDC Presidency seems to be a done deal for incumbent Nelson Chamisa who has to date received six out six nominations from the provinces that have so far held provincial elections.

This has left Secretary General Douglas Mwonzora and Vice President Elias Mudzuri who according to party sources have only been mentioned but not seconded in the ongoing internal process.

Chamisa who took over the reigns following the death of Morgan Tsvangirai seems to be enjoying an edge on his counterparts who are looking for at least a single nomination to challenge their boss.

Yesterday, the party was in Chinhoyi Mashonaland West and the template remained the same, no Mwonzora, no Mudzuri.

Mwonzora has however a ray of hope after receiving a single nomination for the position of Secretary General and would be hoping if the Presidium chances fall off can bank on squaring off with Charlton Hwende who has five nominations.

PRESIDENT Emmerson Mnangagwa yesterday defended his government’s move to compensate white former commercial farmers for improvements on farmland seized during the 2000 fast-track land reform programme, saying the decision was a constitutional requirement.

Addressing a Zanu PF national youth indaba in Harare, Mnangagwa said he would not reverse the decision because the land redistribution programme was also irreversible.

This came after South Africa’s firebrand opposition Economic Freedom Fighters leader Julius Malema on Wednesday accused Mnangagwa of reversing the gains of the liberation struggle by bowing to international pressure and pledging to compensate the dispossessed white farmers.

Malema charged that the farmers deserved no compensation because they “stole the land from the locals”.

“In agriculture, the land reform programme is irreversible and section 72 of the Constitution is very clear in this regard. However, the same Constitution provides that no compensation is payable in respect of its acquisition, except for improvements effected on the land before its acquisition, Mnangagwa said.

He added: “For a long time, government has provided through the fiscus for such payments in respect of the said compensation on improvements of the land. Government will meet its obligations as outlined in the Constitution. But for the avoidance of doubt, we fought for land and there is no way we will retract our position with regards the land reform (programme). Neither will we betray our fellow comrades who lie in marked and unmarked graves, who paid the supreme sacrifice for this land.”

Speaking at the same event, Zanu PF youth secretary Pupurai Togarepi said Malema had no right to criticise the Zimbabwe government’s policies.

“Malema must know that as a people of Zimbabwe the land question is behind us. We have our land and we don’t need anybody from anywhere to tell us anything. He has to go back to school and we advise that he goes back to the ANC (African National Congress), a more progressive revolutionary party so that he remains an African.”

The ruling party youth leader vowed to roll out a programme to economically empower their peers through various agricultural programmes.

Mnangagwa urged the youths to utilise the innovation hubs set up a various public institutions of higher learning as well as the India-Africa Incubation Hub centre in Harare for economic empowerment.

The Zanu PF leader also expressed concern over the spiralling cost of living, adding that he would soon summon captains of industry to explain the current hikes in prices of most basic goods.

“Government notes the present wanton, upsurge and ever escalating unjustified increase in prices,” Mnangagwa said.

“We urge compatriots in industry, business and commerce to desist from this inhumane trend which has brought untold suffering and misery to our people. Government is in the process of meeting stakeholders in the sector for discussions around the issue.

“We cannot have the continued exploitation of our people by those who exhibit rent-seeking behaviour.”

NewsDay

EDZAI Isu Trust has suspended its director Tafadzwa Muzondo, who recently appeared in court facing charges of indecent assault after allegedly fondling songbird Pauline Gundidza’s breasts during a function in Highfield, Harare last week.

Programmes officer Obrien Makore will be the acting director.

Muzondo was remanded to April 16 on $100 bail when he appeared before Mbare magistrate Stanford Mambanje on Wednesday.

Edzai Isu chairperson Patience Gamuchirai Tawengwa said in a statement yesterday that Muzondo would be on suspension pending the outcome of the court case, with the organisation also conducting its own hearing on the matter.

“The matter is before the courts and as we eagerly await for the outcome, we have suspended him pending the outcome of the case,” she said.

“As an organisation, we do not condone violence in whatever form, so we are taking this case seriously and expect him to clear his name in court before he can continue his duties. We will also constitute our own internal hearing as soon as the court case is finalised.”

Tawengwa said they observed the principle that a person was presumed innocent until proven guilty.

“In that regard, we will not second-guess the courts and will wait on the outcome of the case before issuing out further statements,” she said.

Tawengwa said the board was also committed to facilitating the formulation of an arts industry sexual harassment policy under the guidance of the Zimbabwe Women Lawyers
Association (ZWLA) and the Zimbabwe Gender Commission (ZGC).

“Over the years, the trust has always intentionally sought to create a safe space for female artistes,” she said.

When Muzondo appeared in court this week, prosecutor Lawrence Gangarahwe alleged that on March 28, Gundidza was at Action Hub Studio where she had been invited as a guest
alongside other artistes.

The court heard that after the function, as Gundidza awaited transport with her friends, Mariane Kunonga and Rolland “Boss Kedha” Lunga, Muzondo allegedly remarked that Gundidza had beautiful breasts.

This annoyed the urban groover who then told her friends what had happened.

Kunonga and Boss Kedha allegedly warned the accused that it was not right to comment on someone’s breasts without her consent.

It is, however, alleged that Muzondo leaned towards the musician and fondled her breasts before going back to join his crew.

By Own Correspondent| Magwegwe legislator, Anele Ndebele has criticised state media journalists for writing misleading headlines bent on defaming his character.

Ndebele said the journalists’ headlines implicated him in a bribery scandal.

Speaking before the parliament’s Mines and Energy Committee on Wednesday, Ndebele fumed:

“The Herald articles, whenever their (copies) went out on the streets, they would say ‘four members of the Mines Committee’, but we were not part of the Mines Committee at the time.

When you read the story, you do not need to be a lawyer chairman to tell that the story was written by an idiot…the title is going around the streets defaming us ‘four members of the Mines Committee’. That is attention grabbing.

I would like for this committee as I stated in my affidavit to remind journalists particularly in State owned media to go back to the ethics of journalism and practice.

We were all defamed and this has nothing to do with James Goddard. It has something to do with our rotten press in this country.”-NewZimbabwe

Own Correspondent|President Emmerson Mnangagwa and his finance Minister Mthuli Ncube have all but bought into the opposition MDC leader Nelson Chamisa’s election promise that former white farmers will urgently need to be compensated for all the improvements on the land they lost during the land resettlement exercise.

Chamisa spoke vividly on the issue of the compensations during his campaigns and emphasised the issue as a priority in the MDC Government.

Said Chamisa, “Our manifesto is clear. The 99-year leases have failed to satisfy the banks. We need a quick land audit followed by title deeds to all resettled farmers. Land freed up by the audit will go to new beneficiaries. All former white farmers must be fully compensated for their losses.”

President Mnangagwa’s government sees the paying of compensation to white farmers as key to mend ties with the West, and has set aside $17.5 million in this year’s budget to that end. The initial payments will target those in financial distress, while full compensation will be paid later.

“The registration process and list of farmers should be completed by the end of April 2019, after which the interim advance payments will be paid directly to former farm owners,” Government said on Monday.

Zimbabweans from different walks of life have condemned the government’s decision to compensate white farmers forcing President Mnangagwa to clarify that he is not paying farmers for the land but for the improvements done on the land. 

President Mnangagwa’s government sees the paying of compensation to white farmers as key to mend ties with the West, and has set aside $17.5 million in this year’s budget to that end. The initial payments will target those in financial distress, while full compensation will be paid later.

“The registration process and list of farmers should be completed by the end of April 2019, after which the interim advance payments will be paid directly to former farm owners,” Government said on Monday.

Said Chamisa, “Our manifesto is clear. The 99-year leases have failed to satisfy the banks. We need a quick land audit followed by title deeds to all resettled farmers. Land freed up by the audit will go to new beneficiaries. All former white farmers must be fully compensated for their losses.”

Zimbabweans from different walks of life have condemned the government’s decision to compensate white farmers forcing Mnangagwa to clarify that he is not paying farmers for the land but for the improvements done on the land.

Watch the video of Chamisa speak on the compensation of the white farmers in 2018:

Almost eight (8) months after the Apex court heard the matter in front of millions of Zimbabweans locally and abroad, the Constitutional Court of Zimbabwe, led by Chief Justice Luke Malaba, is yet to deliver its full judgment in Advocate Nelson Chamisa’s elections petition.

Walter Nyabadza queries why Chief Justice Malaba has not yet published the full judgement in the opinion article below.

Writes Nyabadza:

“The Constitutional Court of Zimbabwe, led by Chief Justice Luke Malaba, is yet to deliver full judgment in Advocate Nelson Chamisa’s elections petition,it has emerged.

This comes almost eight (8) months after the apex court heard the matter in front of millions of Zimbabweans locally and abroad.

When asked to comment on the Constitutional Court proceedings, the International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) responded, through its Africa Programme Director Arnold Tsunga, “We are aware that the African Judges and Jurists Forum (AJJF) issued an exit statement that focused on procedural aspects of the case and not the substance of the outcome.

The fact that the case was held in open court and parties to the dispute given equal time to present their cases and that the decision was handed in open court and within the timelines provided for by the law is the reason why the AJJF possibly came out that way on exit.

However since the court did not hand the full judgment with reasons it is better to wait for the full judgment and reasons for such judgment before we comment on substantive aspects of the judgment.

At this stage we were surprised by the order of costs against the litigant as that is not normally done in matters where the application is not frivolous and involves a significant public interest issues as this one did.”

In Zimbabwe, the Courts can go for several months, if not years, without handing full judgment in a case.

It still remains to be seen how long it will take Zimbabwe’s apex Court to deliver full judgement with reasons in this much publicised electoral challenge.

Walter Nyabadza is a Zimbabwean lawyer and legal advisor for the National Reclamation Assembly. He writes in his personal capacity and can be contacted on 0771 725 704 or [email protected]

President Mnangagwa has, with immediate effect, appointed Mr Martin Rushwaya as Deputy Chief Secretary for Administration and Finance, while Ambassador Mark Grey Marongwe is the new Secretary for Defence and War Veterans Affairs. The President also appointed Mrs Respect Gono as the new chief immigration officer.

In a statement yesterday, Chief Secretary to the President and Cabinet Dr Misheck Sibanda said:

“His Excellency the President, Cde ED Mnangagwa, has appointed the following senior Government officials: In terms of Chapter 10 Section 205 (1) of the Constitution of Zimbabwe Amendment (No. 20) 2013; Martin Rushwaya as Deputy Chief Secretary for Administration and Finance (Accounting Officer) in the Office of the President and Cabinet; and Mark Grey Tichatonga (Marongwe) as Secretary for Defence and War Veterans Affairs.

“In terms of Section 5 (1a) as read with Section 5 (2) of the Immigration Act, Respect Gono (has been appointed) Chief Immigration Officer. The appointments are with immediate effect.”

Mr Rushwaya was the Secretary for Defence before his new appointment.

Mrs Gono is a senior civil servant in the Office of the President and Cabinet and has served Government for 27 years.

She replaces Mr Clemence Masango, who is now the Registrar-General.

Ambassador Marongwe was the Director of Regional Cooperation and Continental Integration in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Trade.

State Media

PRESIDENT Mnangagwa has promoted two Brigadier-Generals to the rank of Major-General and one Air Commodore to Air Vice-Marshal.

The newly promoted Major-Generals are Kazirai Tazira, William Dube and Air Vice-Marshal Biltim Chingono.

Conferring new ranks to the newly promoted, Zimbabwe Defence Forces Commander, General Philip Valerio Sibanda implored the three to continue working hard.

“Our subordinates, the troops, are our best asset and we need to strive to continue ensuring that they are properly served, properly managed and properly educated,” said Gen Sibanda.

“It is your duty and responsibility to ensure that this asset which is bigger than money is properly catered for.”

“Continue doing your best,” he said. “We are going to be asking a lot more from you, so redouble your efforts. You need to do more than you have done because rank comes with responsibilities and accountability has gone up a notch.”

Gen Sibanda said the promotions were based on a wide range of considerations, among which is merit, distinguished service, consistent dutifulness, hard work, loyalty, selflessness and patriotism.

He said the ZDF command will continue to review the welfare of its personnel.

The promotions are in accordance with Section 15(1) (B) (Chapter 11:02) of the Defence Act and are with effect from April 5.

Zimbabwe National Army Commander Lieutenant-General Absalom Edzai Chimonyo said ZDF will continue to grow due to committed cadres.

“You have excelled in your duties and serving the country,” he said. “You deserved this recognition. With cadres of your calibre our defence force will continue to grow from strength to strength to be among the best in the region.”

After receiving the new rank, Maj-Gen Dube vowed to continue working hard for the country.

“We wish to acknowledge and receive the honour and responsibility that has been thrust upon us through this promotion by our nation through the authority vested upon His Excellency the President of the Republic of Zimbabwe and Commander-in-Chief Zimbabwe Defence Forces in accordance with the relevant provisions of the laws of Zimbabwe,” he said

— state media

Farai Dziva|Government spokesperson Nick Mangwana says nobody should dispute the fact that Zimbabwe is under sanctions.

Zanu PF bigwigs are facing restrictive measures as a result of human rights violations.

“There are a lot of things we disagree on as Zimbabweans. It’s understandable we are diverse and hold different views. But can we at least agree on this one reality and we can discuss the wherefore later; Zimbabwe is Under Sanctions.”

“On one hand both the UK and EU say there are no sanctions against Zim, on the other hand the British are grappling on how to continue to impose sanctions on us outside the EU framework and still claim that they are not sanctions. But their legal instruments term them Sanctions,” claimed Mangwana.

By Own Correspondent| A top government official who allegedly stole an assortment of Cyclone Idai donates wept in court uncontrollably after she was denied bail.

Christine Chideme (63), a deputy director in the Ministry of Women Affairs, Community, Small and Medium Enterprises Development was arrested after being found with goods worth $3 000 that were donated by well-wishers towards Cyclone Idai survivors.

Chideme appeared before resident magistrate Mr Farai Gwitima who remanded the matter to April 17.

The public prosecutor, Themba Dhliwayo, told the court that Chideme was coming from Silver Stream command centre and driving Toyota Landcruiser (WAG-CD23) heading to Chipinge when she was flagged by Terrence Majonga, a soldier. Said Dhliwayo:

Majonga requested to search the vehicle and the accused person accepted.

She told Majonga that she was carrying some groceries which were on a voucher she was given by members of the civil protection committee at Silver Stream in Chimanimani.

After finalising the search Majonga found out that the groceries which were written on the voucher were fewer than the goods loaded in her vehicle. Upon interrogation, Chideme failed to give a satisfactory statement leading to her arrest.

Some of the goods which were stashed at the back of the vehicle included 6×35g peanut butter, 3×30 cotton pads, 6×10 Happy pads, 11×500ml Bonaqua mineral water, 2×125 Tanganda tea three leaves, 4×2,5kg porridge, 12×125g Arenel biscuits, 4×2,5 tsabanga porridge, 5×2kg rice, 2×6 pack candle, 8 boxes of 6×25g bathing soap,1kg mega salt, 6×2litre orange crush and 12 pure drop cooking oil.

MAIN

Chairman: Ralph Tawanda Magunje
Deputy: Tendai Kokera
Secretary: Tawanda Bvumo
Deputy: Emmanuel Chinanzvavana
Treasurer: Hon Muchineripi Chinyanganya
Deputy: Tonderai Kusemamuriwo
Organ: Mukudzei Chigumbura
Deputy: Edward Dzeka
Information: Blessing Mandava
Deputy: Mandishona

WOMEN ASSEMBLY

Chairlady: Abigail Usai
Deputy: Juliana Chigariro
Secretary: Spiwe Munemo
Deputy: Ruth Chinhanu
Treasurer: Nordester Mary Mukutirwa
Deputy: Fortunate Katandika
Organ: Judith Muchenjekwa
Deputy: Murombedzi
Information: Kunaka
Deputy: Abigail Sauti

YOUTH ASSEMBLY

Chairman: Collen Mapfumo
Deputy: Deven Levy
Secretary: Pauline Sibanda
Deputy: Luckson Mbirimi
Treasurer: Regis Mhishi
Deputy: Edzai Zuze
Organ: Taizivei Nyangairo
Deputy: Morgan
Information: Emson Mukandiwa
Deputy: Leonard Chinanzvavana

By Own Correspondent| Transform Zimbabwe President Jacob Ngarivhume says Zimbabweans should draw lessons from Sudan where the military staged a coup against long-time strongman Omar Al-Bashir on Thursday.

The Sudanese people have rejected the proposal to form a Transitional Military Council to govern the country for the next two years. The citizens have demanded a civilian government now.

Said Ngarivhume:

“The Sudanese people are now demanding a civilian transitional authority because they have learnt from the last 5 coups that the Military Is not meant for governance.

I hope it doesn’t take Zimbabwe 50 years. Zimbabwe badly needs a Civilian Transition authority without political leaders.

Zimbabwe has a deficit of people who are honest driven political leaders. It appears people are willing to do and say anything for political positions and such people can never be trusted with the nation.

It is also important to come to terms with the fact that Freedom for our nation will never come through the ballot box. For freedom to come through the ballot we would need reforms in the electoral system. I can confidently say that ZEC is a ZANU PF entity and it will never reform voluntarily.

Reforms also have to be pushed through in PARLIAMENT and OPPOSITION does NOT have the numbers to push such reforms and as long as opposition continues to field double candidates and self-sabotage there will never be enough numbers to push for reforms in Parliament and this reality faced by all instead of lying to ourselves about a Victory in 2023.

Sometimes facing our reality instead of entertaining unrealistic notions is important. facts to face when it comes to ZANU PF.

ZANU PF will never change, ZANU PF will never Reform, ZANU PF will always promise you the moon and the stars but you never get anything and if ZANU PF gives you something there is a price tag on it and they will collect.

Zimbabweans need to understand that we are in this together, Black, White Asian, Shona or Ndebele we must be UNITED.

ZANU PF will never relinquish power through the ballot. ZANU PF Is already planning how they will rig the next election.

They are ten steps ahead as ZANU PFs Primary business is the business of staying in POWER. Somewhere in the ZEC Office, the Presidential results for 2023 are already being plotted.

The toughest reality we must face is that it will probably take a people-driven revolution to remove ZANU PF. meaning we the people will have to take the lead in getting our lives and the future of our children back from the grip of ZANU PF.

When a politician or Political party says they will win in 2023 be good to yourselves Zimbabweans and ask them, What reforms have they pushed or currently pushing that will ensure the elections are free and fair and that ZEC will announce opposition as the winner? If the answer is in the negative, then the chances of winning are next to none.”

By Own Correspondent| Opposition MDC has congratulated the Sudanese people for pushing for the removal of the country’s long-time dictator Omar Al Bashir.

Below is the full text of the MDC statement:

“The MDC congratulates the people of Sudan for successfully pushing for the removal of a longtime dictator, Omar Al Bashir.

Despots must fall in no particular order. They defined African politics and defined it in the wrong way.

On his part, Al Bashir was involved in crimes against humanity.

He must be held accountable for the genocide and civil war. Everyone else who did the same must be subjected to the justice delivery system in line with International Law.

We are, however, quick to mention that the AU must be worried that elections in Africa have ceased to be the basis of authority.

Modern functional states exist on the sole basis of a liberal construct in which the masses are the masters of their own destiny by choosing those who govern them.

The focus must be to ensure a smooth civilian transition. The AU must urgently underwrite the process otherwise left on its own, the process may develop into a military State.

In Zimbabwe, the push for Mugabe to leave office which had gone for close to two decades was hijacked by the military and now the people have to fight again.

This pattern must not be allowed to happen as it will be bad for the citizens of Sudan. We speak from experience as this anarchy is bad for the continent.

MDC: Defining a New Course for Zimbabwe!

Jacob Mafume
MDC National Spokesperson

By Own Correspondent- President Emmerson Mnangagwa has made three more senior appointments in government.

The appointments, which are with immediate effect will see Martin Rushwaya assuming the role of the Deputy Chief Secretary for Administration and Finance (Accounting Officer) in the Office of the President and Cabinet.

Mark Grey Tichatonga has been appointed Secretary for Defence and War Veterans Affairs while Ms Respect Gono fills up the vacancy of the Chief Immigration Officer.

By Own Correspondent| Deputy Minister in the Ministry of Information, Media and Broadcasting Services, Energy Mutodi said that the government’s decision to compensate white former commercial farmers is meant to mend relations with Western countries.

Mutodi was speaking to a local publication in response to utterances made by South African opposition politician, Julius Malema.

Malema told South African journalists in Johannesburg on Wednesday that President Emmerson Mnangagwa has sold out Zimbabwe’s liberation struggle by compensating the whites and will not finish his term in office.

Said Mutodi:

“Government is clearing all obstacles that have hampered cordial and co-operative relations with Britain and the whole European Union bloc. The Second Republic is focusing on re-engagement.

The compensation of the former white farmers is necessary to instil investor confidence. We are implementing a number of reforms that ensure that we create a clear break from the past and lay a firm foundation for investment. That is the (direction) this government has taken.

We are compensating for improvements and not for the land itself and it’s only fair that we handle the land issue in that manner so as to bring finality to the land reform exercise that has caused a lot of disquiet and lack of confidence in our commitment to the rule of law.”-Newsday

By Own Correspondent| Government has rejected the resignation of senior director in the Ministry of Transport and Infrastructural Development.

Angeline Karonga handed in her resignation letter a few days after corruption charges were levelled against her.

The Minister of Transport and Infrastructure Development Joel Biggie Matiza told the state media that Karonga tendered her resignation at a wrong time as she has a case pending before the courts.

Said Matiza:

Yes, her resignation was turned down until her case which is before the courts are finalised. Her resignation letter states that she has served long enough and wants to resign, but it was felt that she should wait for the finalisation of her case.

Karonga is currently on bail on corruption charges. She was jointly charged with Civil Aviation Authority of Zimbabwe general manager David Chawota.

The duo allegedly used a company they had formed, called Akodac Consultancy Services in 2009 which was awarded a tender by the Zimbabwe Road Admisitrauon Authority (ZINARA) in the same Ministry were Karonga is a director.

The company was then contracted to supply bitumen to Zinara and was paid US$1 234 004,72.8.-StateMedia

By Own Correspondent| Permanent Secretary in the Information ministry Nick Mangwana has blasted neighbouring South African opposition political parties against interfering in the country’s national issues.

He implored the opposition parties to respect Zimbabwe’s sovereignty and stop the “big brother mentality”.

The statement follows EFF leader, Julius Malema’s recent utterances where he blasted President Emmerson Mnangagwa for wanting to reverse the land reform program.

Said Mangwana:

Farai Dziva|Expecting Mnangagwa to resolve the Gukurahundi issue is like hoping that a mosquito will treat malaria victims, a ZAPU official has said.

Mnangagwa played a pronounced role in the Gukurahundi atrocities, according to ZAPU.

ZAPU spokesperson Iphuthile Maphosa attacked Mnangagwa for toying around with the sensitive matter.

“Mnangagwa can never be sincere on Gukurahundi because it is on him. How does a mosquito invent a cure for malaria and compensate those it already killed?

That’s why this whole discussion rushes to healing while glossing over acknowledgement, responsibility taking, justice and reparations. It’s all a huge joke and Mnangagwa is simply continuing with his deception as he buys time in as far as facing justice for Gukurahundi is concerned,” Maphosa said .

The party that started off in 1999 with workers, commercial farmers, students and other forces is set to be dominated by former student leaders after Nelson Chamisa, Chalton Hwende, Jacob Mafume, Tererai Obey Sithole, Tendai Biti and Daniel Molekele among other former student leaders have so far been nominated for key positions in the opposition MDC party.

zifmnews.com

So far Chamisa remains the only one to have been nominated for the party top post with five out of five provinces having finished the process.

Chamisa, a lawyer and former Harare Polytechnic student leader is in the race to take the party leadership with former student leader, Tendai Biti, also a lawyer eyeing the vice president post.

Biti so far is in contest with top lawyer, Welshman Ncube for the post.

Others nominated for the vice president’s post are Paurina Mpariwa, Morgen Komichi among others.

Another student leader eyeing a top post in the MDC ahead of the party congress in May is Chalton Hwende who has been nominated for the post of secretary general, a very key post in the party.

Hwende was the secretary general in the Zimbabwe National Students Union while Job Sikhala, another nominee in the MDC congress dynamics was the spokesperson.

Molekele, formerly known as Fortune Mguni, who cut his political teeth when he deputised former MDC spokesperson, the late Learnmore Jongwe at the University of Zimbabwe in the late 90s, has been nominated also for the prestigious secretary general post.

Mafume, also a former UZ student leader after serving in the capacity of secretary general is set to fight to retain his post as party spokesperson with Gweru based lawyer Brian Dube having been nominated as his deputy.

David Coltart, a top lawyer has been nominated for the post of treasurer general.

In a statement Thursday, MDC spokesperson Jacob Mafume said congress preparations were going on well.

He said the congress is set to define a new course for Zimbabwe.

An opinion analysis article published by a Europe based website claims that president Emmerson Mnangagwa has offered to resign.

The Spotlight article states that this was as a result of pressure from the military. The piece went viral on Friday morning. The article however has got double negatives or rather double doubts in the credibility of its source content. Part of this is profiled in the graphic below.

Beyond this issue, It was noted that the core sources behind the article are all faceless.

FULL TEXT:
The game is all but over for President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s young presidency, as hardline army generals are reportedly said to have read the riot act to him, over a sheaf of serious issues caused by his leadership seen as compromising national security, resulting in Mnangagwa allegedly offering to step down to avoid a flood of political chaos in the country, Spotlight Zimbabwe, can exclusively reveal.

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Intelligence sources close to the Office of The President and Cabinet (OPC) said the securocrats, who include serving and retired generals close to vice president, Rtd General Constantino Chiwenga, fired the warning shots to Mnangagwa on Tuesday after they informally met among themselves for a security briefing, as it’s now emerging that VP Chiwenga it might seem, is running a parallel unit of the Joint Operations Commnad (JOC), which is full of high ranking military officials still loyal to his command.
JOC is a shadowy quasi military organ, bringing together the country’s military-security complex which includes the army, and its military intelligence wing and Presidential Guard, Air Force, Police, Prisons and the Central Intelligence Organisation (CIO) to manage homeland security affairs.

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Chief among the generals concerns based on military intelligence findings, is Mnangagwa’s failure to fix the economy, which they believe is likely to cause “the mother of all civil revolts” in the country’s history, as inflation continues to soar at an all time high of 59.39 percent as of February 2019 according to Trading Economics, while the so called transitional RTGS currency is fast losing value with a current exchange rate of RTGS$1 to US$3,0675. Fuel queues have resurfaced across Zimbabwean cities and towns, with Harare holding the dubious record of being home to the world’s most expensive petrol. The average price of petrol around the globe is $1.12 per litre, yet Zimbabwean motorists suffer an exhorbitant amount of $3.40 per litre.

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As first reported by Spotlight Zimbabwe on 17 October 2018, Mnangagwa was warned by the army to urgently put the nation’s economic house in order, as they feared a possible popular uprising over his embattled regime’s extortionate taxes, uncontrollable price escalations, and growing shortages of fuel and food, all which he has dismally failed to arrest.
Other political hot issues raised by military intelligence include Mnangagwa’s move to compensate white farmers for losing their land under former President Robert Mugabe’s fast-track land reform of 2000 at a time government is broke, as his administration through the ministries of agriculture and finance annonced on Monday that it would start paying compensation to the former white commercial farmers this year, with a $17.5 million budget already in place to allow initial payouts to those in financial distress, while full compensation will be paid later.

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“Mnangagwa is definately in big trouble and his presidency is over,” said one of the sources based at Defence House in the capital. “An informal meeting consisting of top military brass officials was held on Tuesday, by generals who are currently serving together with some retired, where important security issues were discussed. From what we know, they’re not happy with the political leadership of Mnangagwa and that his failure to fix the economy together with questionable policies by one minister in particular are compromising national security. Military intelligence is pointing fingers at the ministry of finance, and there is strong concensus that the finance minister must be shown the door. The decision to pay compensation to white farmers has his fingerprints all over, as he hopes to curry favor with rthe World Bank and IMF to secure loans. So serious is the matter that the riot act was read to him (Mnangagwa), and he ended up offering to resign in private to the General (VP Chiwenga), to avoid political chaos in the country, as a good number of ruling party politicians also want him gone and are reviving and intensifying their bid to impeach him over gross economic mismanagement. The opposition we understand is also preparing a vote of no confidence for Mnangagwa in parliament. December 2019 might be far, he is surely going to resign to avoid humiliation like Mugabe.”

Zimbabwe’s white farmers are credited with turning the country into Southern Africa’s bread basket during the economy’s heydays, when surplus produce was exported to the region and beyond.

The sources also said one retired general currently serving in cabinet had also been told about a possible capture of the presidency by the finance ministry, as most of Mnangagwa’s policy pronouncements now appear to be the brainchild of the finance minister, and this has reportedly infuriated Chiwenga.

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“They are very close (foreign affairs minister SB Moyo and Chiwenga). Minister Moyo has a dosssier on the possible capture of the president’s office by finance. When you look at the bigger picture it is the finance ministry peddling all these controversial policies, such as allowing 100 percent ownership of mining rights by foreigners in diamonds and platinum. In fact very soon all the remaining strategic minerals including untapped uranium reserves and the lithium we have will be wholly owned by foreign interests, which amounts to scrapping native empowerment. The story does not end there, another example of capture, is when Mnangagwa abondoned his World Economic Forum trip to Davos in Switzerland in January, to address the protests at home. I don’t need to mention the name of the person sent over to represent him at the Davos summit. Economic policy coming out from the minister’s office is dangerous and detrimental. How do you choose investment over ownership of natural resources. Who in their right senses does that?”

South African opposition leader, Julius Malema of the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) came out guns blazing against Mnangagwa on Wednesday, saying his decision to compensate white farmers was a “sell-out position” warning that he is unlikely to remain in office for long.

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“It’s a sell-out position, Mnangagwa is selling out,” Malema said during a news conference in Johannesburg.
“I can tell you now he won’t finish his term. The way he’s going about it, he’s not going to finish his term. That country is swimming in a pool of poverty; they can’t afford basic things like primary health care, good education and infrastructure. They get money and they go and give to people who are not deserving of such money. It’s a sell-out position, it’s unsustainable. He’s reversing the gains of the revolution and very soon the people of Zimbabwe will turn on him and he’ll have nowhere to hide. We don’t agree with Mnangagwa. They (white farmers) don’t deserve any compensation, and therefore anyone who compensates them for stolen land is a sell-out. So Mnangagwa is a sell-out. He must know that he’s bad, he’s a sell-out. We thought he was going to bring fresh air in Zimbabwe but he’s continuing to be worse than what we’ve experienced before. He’s a sell-out and he must know that.”
Another South African, renowned political commentator on Zimbabwe, Professor David Moore, from the Faculty of Humanities Department of Anthropology and Development Studies at the University of Johannesburg, has previously echoed the same sentiments as Malema, telling South African television station eNCA in an interview on Zimbabwe in August 2018, that Mnangagwa will be lucky to remain in office for the next five years.

“Zanu-PF too is going to be regrouping by October, because remember Mnangagwa himself thinks he might be impeached because there’s subterranean G40 people who are there,” said Moore. “Mugabe could hold his factions together. Morgan Tsvangirai at times he could, but at another times he couldn’t. You know Thokozani Khupe that whole thing. If Emmerson Mnangagwa can do a Mugabe for the next five years even, he’ll be very lucky.”

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Last month we reported that, a special delegation of senior military officials reportedly told Chinese generals that Mnangagwa’s political reign will expire in 2020, and that he was going to be an interim caretaker president up to the period, before the military replaces him with their preferred successor, a few days prior to ex-ruler Mugabe’s November 2017 coup.
Today we can also report that VP Chiwenga if all goes well, will be the next Zimbabwe president should his military confederacy insist that he takes up the position. There are also reports that foreign affairs minister SB Moyo and agriculture minister Perence Shiri, are likely to land very senior positions in a Chiwenga government as vice presidents in the presiduim. There also has been speculation by online reports, that the country’s richest man Strive Masiyiwa, might also land the vice presidency and is being considered to play a key role in a looming post-Mnangagwa dispensation.

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The Zimbabwe National Army (ZNA) public relations department yesterday said they had no clearance to comment on our story as all matters concerning JOC are best addressed by the defence minister.

CHITUNGWIZA Central Hospital nurses yesterday temporarily downed tools and demonstrated against their boss over nepotism.

The nurses took to the car park holding placards and beating drums alleging that the principal nursing officer Miriam Mangeya had turned the institution into her empire where she surrounds herself with her relatives at the expense of other nurses.

Zimbabwe Nurses Association chairperson Kingstone Mutsinzwa said nurses’ concerns had been turned off for some time forcing them to take the extraordinary measure.

“Nurses are no longer safe to air their views because of relatives and friends planted by the PNO who report negatively to her,” said Mutsinzwa.

Mutsinzwa said efforts to engage Mangeya were futile as she instead threatened to fire them.

“VaMangeya vanobva vati panoti Chitungwiza ndopanoti inini chero ukaendepi ivondovanosara.

“This has led the nurses to say enough is enough and staged a demonstration for their voices to be heard.

“They met as a team demonstrating. Mangeya relatives did not turn up but they sent names of those who were active during pre-demo meeting.”

Mandeya’s maiden surname is Muchakazi and these two surnames dominated the team selected that benefitted from the funded cholera dose programme.

“Some of the general hands are from her church.

“We are urging the ministry to investigate, do head counting and carry job evaluation and assess how Mandeya is administering the health institution,” he said.

Mandeya is on record admitting that she had relatives employed by the hospital but said she never had a hand in selecting people who went for cholera vaccination.

Correspondent|ZANU-PF legal affairs secretary Munyaradzi Paul Mangwana disclosed yesterday at a national multi-stakeholder post-election review conference in Nyanga that the ruling party blocked its candidates from filing their election petitions as that would have discredited the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC).

Mangwana said the ruling party would not criticize the ZEC because that would cast aspersions over President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s victory.

“In my capacity as secretary for legal affairs, I faced this challenge from Zanu PF candidates who had not succeeded in the last elections. They came forward to me and said we want to challenge the result of the election because we feel that Zec did not do its work very well,” he said.

Mangwana added: “If you were in my position, what would you do? Your party has won the election and has vigorously defended its victory in the Constitutional Court, but your (parliamentary and local government) candidates are coming to you, saying Zec did not do its work well, if they had done it well, I would have won the election.

“Any new process still requires to be reviewed with an intention of improving it to perfection if possible. I cannot stand before you to say the electoral process was perfect, but it was good for it to present a credible outcome. There are areas which do require improvement starting with the BVR (biometric voter registration) process itself,” he said.

The opposition has often accused Zec of playing mother to the ruling party and favouring it with information and internal secrets pertaining to its running of the polls, allegations denied by both Zanu PF and Zec.

When the MDC took their case to the Constitutional Court, all the nine judges on the benches threw it out as there was no sufficient election residue to prove that there was vote rigging.

Mangwana, however, claimed that there was an abuse of commissioned affidavits by political parties, leading to voters being registered in wards they did not reside.

Zanu PF said it wanted this problem to be solved by allowing political parties access to the voters’ roll three months ahead of polls to iron out challenges pertaining to voter egistration.

“You would find sometimes 70 people registered as staying in one room … through the relaxation of rules there was abuse, I am not saying by which political party, but political parties because they want to win at all costs can abuse relaxation of rules and that is what gave rise to the situation whereby people were simply getting pre-made affidavits by political agents,” Mangwana said.

Government has turned down the resignation of senior director in the Ministry of Transport and Infrastructural Development Ms Angeline Karonga, who is facing charges of corruption involving a tender awarded to her company by the Zimbabwe National Road Administration.

Ms Karonga, who is the Ministry’s legal director, tendered her resignation a few days after she was arrested and arraigned before the courts on corruption charges.

Questions were raised over the timing of her resignation since her case was still before the courts. Transport and Infrastructural Development Minister Joe Biggie Matiza confirmed the development to the Herald.

“Yes, her resignation was turned down until her case which is before the courts is finalised,” he said.

“Her resignation letter states that she has served long enough and wants to resign, but it was felt that she should wait for the finalisation of her case.”

Ms Karonga, who is on bail, is being charged together with Civil Aviation Authority of Zimbabwe general manager David Chawota.

The pair formed a company called Akodac Consultancy Services in 2009, which was then awarded a tender by Zinara, a parastatal in the same ministry where Karonga is a director.

Akodac Consultancy was contracted to supply bitumen to Zinara and was paid US$1 234 004,72.

The wife of killed Central Intelligence Organisation (CIO) boss Peter Munetsi, who died in military detention during the November 2017 coup which ousted former president Robert Mugabe, Rossie, is demanding her late husband’s post-mortem report and US$600 000.

Rossie has filed an application at the High Court seeking an order to compel the government, police and Parirenyatwa Group of Hospitals to release her late husband’s post-mortem report.

Munetsi’s death has reportedly been under investigation by the Zimbabwe Republic Police’s Criminal Investigations Department. However, the police have not been forthcoming with the post-mortem results, forcing the family to engage lawyers.

The matter could open a can of worms by providing fresh insight into the circumstances leading to a number of deaths during the dramatic coup, which the government claims was “bloodless”.

Munetsi died on November 15, 2017 at the age of 55 and a memorial was held for him in Harare on January 27, 2018.

“We act on behalf of the estate of the late Peter Munetsi, please kindly note our interest herein. The now deceased Peter Munetsi was a member of the ununiformed forces employed as such by the Central Intelligence Organisation as a District Divisional Intelligence Officer.

“Peter Munetsi died in military detention on November 15, 2017. His death is the subject of your investigations,” a letter from lawyer Denford Halimani of Wintertons Legal Practitioners reads.

The correspondence was addressed to the officer in charge of the CID’s Law and Order section at Harare Central Police Station.

Halimani said the post-mortem is needed “so as to ascertain the cause of death and to forward the report to his insurers who require it as a precondition to redeem his insurance policy. The post-mortem is also required to consider seeking compensation for wrongful death and loss of support”.

“It is therefore extremely necessary for the post-mortem report to be promptly availed to us.”

He said the state-run Parirenyatwa Group of Hospitals, which conducted the post-mortem, referred the family to the CID Homicide department for the results.

“We are aware that the post-mortem is available. In this regard the post-mortem was signed off by the pathologist Dr (Tsungai Victor) Jabangwe. However, the post-mortem was not availed to us by the Parirenyatwa Group of Hospitals which indicated that it would be availed through the investigating officer and/ or the Officer in Charge at Parirenyatwa Group of Hospitals Police post,” said Halimani.

“We managed to have sight of the contents of the post-mortem report and are aware of its contents. We approached the Police Post at Parirenyatwa who referred us to CID Homicide at Harare Central Police Station, which is the reason for us writing this letter to you.”

Police spokesman Paul Nyathi said he was not aware of the matter. “I am not aware of the letter and I am not privy to any information which you are asking,” Nyathi said.

Reliable sources in the security sector maintain that some people, among them Munetsi, were killed during the coup.

The army operation left a trail of destruction at properties owned by government officials perceived to be loyal to Mugabe. The walls and doors were plastered with bullet holes and there was blood on the floor at some of the properties. Bullet casings and fragments were also found scattered around the properties.

There were blood stains around former finance minister Ignatius Chombo’s home, while casings and bullet fragments were found at the homes of former ministers Jonathan Moyo (higher education) and Saviour Kasukuwere (local government).

Former Zanu-PF youth leaders Kudzanai Chipanga and Innocent Hamandishe were detained and tortured by the military during the coup. Munetsi, a career spy, was captured by soldiers during the dramatic events.

However, late last year, Defence minister Oppah Muchinguri told parliament that no one was killed during the coup.

“As you are aware that Operation Restore Legacy spanned over the period 17th November, 2017 to 18th January, 2018, if the honourable member was referring to people who died of the various ailments, then that is best answered by the Registrar-General’s Office that deals with registration of births and deaths . . . However, if the honourable member is referring to victims of casualties of Operation Restore Legacy which I believe he was, Mr Speaker Sir, the answer is none. As far as we are concerned, no one was killed during this operation,” she said in October last year.

Her statement contradicted Presidential spokesperson George Charamba, who had earlier on that year, in April, admitted that a CIO officer died.

“We had one officer from the Central Intelligence Organisation who was arrested alongside a few others for standing in the way of an operation.

“That particular officer apparently was diabetic and because of the shock of that arrest, we lost him. It was a very sad incident that happened,” Charamba said.

Source – Financial Gazette

Farai Dziva|A tribal war has erupted in Chiredzi District as Shangani people in the area battle with Shona speaking teachers ” for territorial supremacy.”

Angry Shangani people have vowed to fight for the removal of Shona speaking teachers from Chiredzi District.

Last week Chief Tshovani declared that he would fight tooth and nail to remove Shona speaking teachers from his area.

“This is unfair, we have our ethos and values yet the government continues to deploy Shona speaking teachers to Chiredzi District.

We are in the process of negotiating with the responsible government officials because we no longer want Shona speaking teachers here,” said Chief Tshovani.

“The deployment of Shona speaking teachers is affecting our cultural values and beliefs.The teachers who are coming here cannot utter even a single Shangani word,” added Chief Tshovani.

Farai Dziva|South African opposition leader Julius Malema’ s moral compass is twisted, a government spokesperson has said.

Malema on Wednesday told South African media that Mnangagwa “is a sell-out.”

Speaking to Newsday over Malema’s jibes, Information ministry secretary Ndavaningi Mangwana claimed that the government was morally bound to compensate the white farmers for the infrastructure they built on the land.

“Mr Malema’s comments are ill-informed and they betray a failure to grasp Zimbabwe’s policy regarding land reform.
But that’s quite understandable because when one plunges into the domestic affairs of a neighbour based on tittle-tattle on social media, their chances of getting it very wrong are amplified as is the case here.

Zimbabwe’s policy is a very fair one. Our policy is not to compensate for land, but for farm improvements. The money set aside by the government in the budget is to pay for that.

Now if anyone believes that it’s right not to compensate for a house, an irrigation system, barn, borehole or school, then their moral compass is skewed and we have to question their sense of right and wrong,” said Mangwana.

GOVERNMENT is working on mechanisms for the National Competitiveness Commission (NCC) to work with industry on a framework for pricing of goods, standards and service delivery. This was said by Industry and Commerce Deputy Minister Raj Modi in his key-note address during the 4th retailers and wholesalers’ Indaba 2019 in Harare yesterday, organised by the Confederation of Zimbabwe Retailers (CZR).

Deputy Minister Modi’s remarks come at a time prices of goods and services have risen by between 25 percent and 75 percent in recent months, eating into the pockets of consumers.

But the NCC, which was set up in 2017 to examine cost drivers to improve business competitiveness using the value chain approach, has largely been invisible in all this pricing madness. Deputy Minister Modi said the NCC was understaffed while its chairperson Mr Kumbirai Katsande, was reportedly running the show on his own, a move that curtails his chances of attending to all pertinent issues affecting the market.
Deputy Minister Modi said the NCC was currently doing “the best they can under the current circumstances”, as the organisation still does not have a CEO and other critical staff.

However, Government says the NCC has been playing a critical role in addressing issues around bread prices. Deputy Minister Modi wants the NCC to be resourced so that it carries out its mandate, in conjunction with industry.

“I hope that industry players in all sectors of the economy will work closely with the commission,” said Deputy Minister Modi.
“My ministry is also looking at how the NCC can, together with suppliers, wholesalers and retailers, engage to come up with best practices on pertinent issues of pricing, standards and service delivery.
“There is need to agree on how our products can be priced using reasonable mark-ups especially between wholesalers and retailers as your role is critical to consumers.”State media